]]>Happy Monday, TJRWrestling faithful! It’s Royal Rumble week, so let’s get to it. Welcome to the Week In Preview for World Wrestling Entertainment, January 21st 2019.

Raw (Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City OK)

Announced: Ronda Rousey & Natalya vs Sasha Banks & Bayley.

What to expect: We’ve got plenty to get through, so some shorter notes here this week. Brock Lesnar is in the house and putting him face-to-face with his new challenger Finn Balor has to be the first order of business. Another interesting plot point will be how Braun Strowman reacts to being removed from the match; Baron Corbin is likely to feel his wrath, while confirmation of Strowman’s next move (the Rumble match presumably?) will also be interesting. The announced tag match builds towards Rousey vs Banks for the Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble; I wonder if the play here may be to have Banks tap out Natalya to look strong, because there’s no way Rousey’s losing on Sunday. Bobby Lashley is the new Intercontinental Champion and may be given an immediate title defense – Raw likes television title matches of late – although whether former champions Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins become more concerned with the Rumble match on Sunday (and bigger title matches in the future) remains to be seen. The other consistent thread likely to be picked up again tonight is The Revival, who have at least graduated from losing short tag matches by unfair means to winning short tag matches by unfair means. How that situation evolves after they reportedly asked for their release from the company last week will be very interesting to see.

Spotlight: Would the real Monday Night Raw please stand up? If one of the ideas behind WWE’s soft reboot of its main roster offerings is to make things less predictable, it’s working. I don’t know if it’s always positive, but it’s working. On last Monday’s show, the segment that finally introduced women’s tag team championships to the company was immediately preceded by a backstage titillation vignette where a runner accidentally interrupted a half-topless Alexa Bliss while she was getting changed – without context or consequence. It was also a show where, after this column had fatefully said “the Universal Championship program will probably develop little”, challenger Braun Strowman was abruptly removed from the match (the plan for a while, reportedly, and not the worst idea if having him lose to Lesnar again was the alternative) and Finn Balor was inserted in his place – after getting to play the underdog opposite Vince McMahon and being put over strongly by John Cena.

The presumed plan now, obviously, is for Balor to be fodder this Sunday; something interesting for Lesnar to do at the Rumble before he moves on to more important plans (with more important people) at WrestleMania. In that sense, the similarities with the match for Raw’s top women’s title this Sunday are striking. It does leave very little time – tonight, basically – to build anticipation and intrigue, but this light-touch build (relying on match billing and the microphone skills of Paul Heyman, even when his client is present in person) seems par for the course with Lesnar’s Universal Championship programs during the past couple of years. Not that I’m complaining though. Reportedly, Balor was pulled from this spot at last year’s Rumble due the company’s view that he wasn’t over enough at the time. For many who were all too ready to get behind the Irishman, that would’ve seemed odd. It’s great news he’s been given the spot this year and, even if he’ll surely be staring at the lights at the end of it, getting his big marquee match against Lesnar is the kind of opportunity Balor fully warrants.

I have mixed feelings about whether or not Balor’s Demon persona should be involved here. Heavily on the side of reasons in favor, it makes sense from a character and historical perspective; Balor won the Universal Championship as the Demon, before his human form had to surrender it the next day, and apart from that impromptu same-night shot Roman Reigns gave him on the Raw after SummerSlam he’s had to wait for this next big opportunity. Also, if we’re only getting Balor vs Lesnar once (and it sounds like it’s been a struggle getting this far), of course we’d want to see the Demon for it. On the side of reasons against, it’ll involve marking a near-certain loss against Balor’s overpowered alter-ego – although if that’s ever going to happen, getting it out of the way now and against an opponent like Lesnar may be the least painful option in the long term – and would lessen the impact and/or chances of a Demon entrance at WrestleMania, which feels like an equally great prize.

What to expect: You’ll notice that the above is quite a lot of content. John covered the announcement of Andrade vs Mysterio and Joe vs Ali the other day, but WWE.com is currently promoting the other segments in its SmackDown news pages. Will all of them still happen? I think there’s a good chance something will get cut. Andrade/Mysterio looks like it would be the biggest time sink; another 20 minute affair seems feasible, but I wonder if it might be saved for another time. I’d rather that than have it rushed. The segment with Vince, Bryan and Styles is obviously a centerpiece (where Vince will probably try to motivate the more aggressive side of Styles), Miz vs Cesaro will tell the story of how enthusiastically Shane McMahon is in Miz’s corner before their tag titles match on Sunday. Naomi vs Mandy appears to be the blow-off for the recent Jimmy Uso seduction storyline – although it may well descend into a brawl. Ali vs Joe might be good if it happens. The only other storyline that’s likely to feature is the build to Asuka vs Becky Lynch on Sunday – but to be honest that sells itself and after last week’s promo segment (which wasn’t the best) maybe a video package here is all WWE will reach to.

Spotlight: I’m not certain whether the current angle between Shane McMahon and The Miz entertains me. I think I’m only at the stage where it interests me; I’m curious to see where it’s going – but after bubbling along unremarkably for a couple of months, I rather wonder if I should’ve been more invested by now. The pattern – Miz sucks up to Shane in the pursuit of some sort of alliance only for the latter to be chronically lukewarm about it – has evolved at a glacial pace. Asides from mild annoyance, the pair’s relationship hasn’t been through many ups and downs, tests of loyalty or been given cause to have each other’s backs beyond a couple of sporadic occasions. This relationship is no ‘Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens’ and is some way off being able to deliver a twist with the pathos of a ‘Festival of Friendship’. This Tuesday’s match on SmackDown – The Miz facing Cesaro, with Shane in his corner – is a chance to accelerate the process, before a sudden opportunity to become SmackDown Tag Team Champions on Sunday. And I’ll be honest, the chances of that coming to pass worry me a little.

It seems frankly bizarre to think that The Miz and Shane McMahon could be SmackDown Tag Team Champions after this Sunday. For SmackDown Live, which boasts The New Day, The Usos and current champions The Bar – who have all been killing it over the past year – to have its tag championships pulled out of reach into the role of prop for a character-based storyline between members of a non-regular team (one of whom is a non-regular wrestler) seems a counterproductive call. Particularly when Raw, which has a dearth of teams on a hot streak, can’t even manage to put their titles on The Revival. As we know, any storyline of any substance that perpetuates within WWE programming at this time of year tends to be in service of WrestleMania. There is clearly an end goal in mind for the relationship between Miz and Shane in April, but surely it doesn’t require SmackDown’s regular teams taking a supporting role? Certainly not then, but does it even need to do so now?

This story has clearly been brewing ever since Shane won the ‘World Cup’ tournament in Saudi Arabia back at the start of November, though it may remain unknown whether the plan morphed in any way following the return of the extended McMahon family as omnipresent on-screen authority figures. It was speculated that Shane McMahon winning the tournament and being crowned ‘Best in the World’ would lead to a storyline where the success went to his head; an angle that would’ve had the freedom to unfold while Paige remained as a stalwart babyface General Manager. Now, I can’t help but feel that with the requirement of being a neutral agent on both main roster shows, Shane’s character seems limited in how much he’s willing to be lured to Miz’s dark side – his every step forward seemingly has to be tempered by reminders that he doesn’t want to abuse his power. Borrowing a division’s championship gold would be a disappointing outcome if the character dynamics involved don’t become more interesting fairly soon.

Also This Week

NXT UK (Wednesday) is now appearing to settle into a one-episode-a-week pattern, this week featuring a main event of the Jordan Devlin vs Travis Banks match we didn’t get at TakeOver: Blackpool. 205 Live (Tuesday) features Kalisto vs Hideo Itami vs Akira Tozawa in advance of the four-way Cruiserweight Championship match on Sunday. NXT (Wednesday) promises Velveteen Dream in action – but it’s a TakeOver week, so the bigger news is saved for the weekend.

NXT TakeOver: Phoenix (Saturday) comes from the Talking Stick Resort Arena and – prepare for a statement tantamount to heresy – looks a little bit lower-key in comparison to the brand’s usual standards over the last twelve months. Here’s the card:

NXT Championship: Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs Aleister Black

NXT Women’s Championship: Shayna Baszler (c) vs Bianca Belair

NXT Tag Team Championships: The Undisputed ERA (c) vs The War Raiders

NXT North American Championship: Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano

Matt Riddle vs Kassius Ohno

Despite the absolute confidence any sane person would have in the talent concerned, it’s a card that’s notably reliant on the rotation of Ciampa, Black, Gargano and Ricochet, who have been at the heart of big singles matches on a few consecutive TakeOvers now. Elsewhere the Undisputed ERA/War Raiders program has needed reheating after WarGames, while Bianca Belair is definitely stepping up to the next level (and into the gap following the epic Shayna Baszler/Kairi Sane feud). Below this, the need for a second Ohno vs Riddle match is, again by NXT standards, questionable. Dare we ask how much the yellow brand will have left in the tank by WrestleMania weekend?

But who am I kidding? It’s a TakeOver, which means it’ll be great.

Royal Rumble (Chase Field, Phoenix AZ)

Announced: As always, everything’s subject to change and additions during the week (even if it’s just names for the two headline battle royals) are likely. The announced card – and entrants into the Rumble matches – at time of writing are:

What to expect: Trying to ignore the big flashing neon sign in my mind that says ‘Seth Rollins’, I’m enjoying the fact that this year’s Royal Rumble match (men’s version) feels more open than it has for a few years. Last January looked like a straight choice between Shinsuke Nakamura and Roman Reigns, but less is certain this year. Now that it looks like, despite his UFC commitments, Brock Lesnar is expected to turn up at WrestleMania as Universal Champion – that didn’t feel as certain when Braun Strowman was originally his challenger here – Rollins seems an obvious pick, Strowman or Drew McIntyre aren’t beyond the realms of possibility as alternatives. On the SmackDown side, possible WrestleMania challengers to Daniel Bryan (or AJ Styles; there are fewer guarantees as to WWE’s plans here) are far more ambiguous. This feels like a Rumble that comes with minimum anxiety over popular or divisive winners, and maximum anticipation for finding out which way WWE goes. This is very welcome!

There’s also the annual likelihood of surprise entrants; previously speculated names have ranged from the massively out-there (The Rock, Batista) to the far more likely (the recent class of NXT call-ups). The same, of course, can be said for the women’s Rumble too – although the additions of The IIconics, Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans and a yet-deeper developmental roster should mean a more rounded match than last year’s that leaned heavily on legends. That in itself is a positive step. Unlike the men’s match, however, the possibility of fan anxiety and stressful conversations here look very real. Imagine, for a moment, that Becky Lynch loses her championship match with Asuka but doesn’t come out for the Rumble – which could become a foregone conclusion depending on where those matches happen on the card. Will the Phoenix crowd take well to a Charlotte Flair victory under those circumstances? I’m already having flashbacks to the men’s match in 2014 and 2015.

Overall though, the rest of this card is looking great. The top two singles matches on each brand – Lesnar vs Balor and Rousey vs Banks for Raw, Bryan vs Styles and Asuka vs Lynch for SmackDown – are all things to be optimistic about; tempered expectations for any modern-day Brock Lesnar match aside, there’s no reason why these can’t be great matches. Rusev vs Shinsuke Nakamura for a title, with a few weeks of story (however hokey) behind it, plus a cruiserweight four-way are nice side dishes. And yeah, there’s that SmackDown tag titles match too, but let’s not worry too much about that…..

Be sure to check in with John and the guys at the end of the week for the full TJRWrestling preview. As always, this is roughly the point of the calendar where WWE kicks into a higher gear, and this year’s Royal Rumble looks like it’ll be a strong start to WrestleMania season.

Three Burning Questions

Some of this week’s most pressing but least publicized talking points. Throw down your answers in the comments section as usual!

Who’s your pick to win the men’s Rumble match?

Who’s your pick to win the women’s Rumble match?

Asides from the two battle royals, what are you expecting to be the best match of the night this Sunday?

Until next week, strap in, enjoy the ride and remember to stick with TJRWrestling.net for your show recaps and analysis.

]]>There’s some “new” old content that has been added to WWE Network today: WWF Superstars from 1992! It’s weird to sit here and mark out over shows from 27 years ago, but a lot of us grew up on this stuff back when there was no such thing as Monday Night Raw (started in January 1993) or Smackdown. It will be cool to check it out once in a while.

Here’s a short preview video from WWE about the content that was added.

For a full listing of all the WWF Superstars episodes added today, the great website WWENetworkNews posted the full listing.

Superstars 04/18/1992 [Duration: 45:41]
After his incredible return to save Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VIII, The Ultimate Warrior gathers his legions of fans together to send a message to Sid Justice. Plus, several exciting matches see ‘The Texas Tornado’ Kerry Von Erich, Money Inc., Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart, and many more in action!

Superstars 04/25/1992 [Duration: 45:05]
With help from the devious Mr. Fuji, The Berzerker looks to put an end to The Undertaker in the featured contest. Sid Justice responds to his new rivalry with the recently returned Ultimate Warrior. Plus, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, The Natural Disasters, and more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 05/02/1992 [Duration: 45:54]
Macho Man Randy Savage begins his new reign as WWE Champion by addressing the former champion, Ric Flair. The Ultimate Warrior takes to the ring for singles action against the dangerous Skinner. Plus, Papa Shango, Tatanka, the duo of High Energy, and many more ready for some exciting competition!

Superstars 05/09/1992 [Duration: 45:30]
Ric Flair laces his boots to go one-on-one with the militant Sgt. Slaughter in the featured bout. Weeks of anticipation are quenched with the in-ring debut of Crush. Papa Shango places a deathly curse on this new enemy, The Ultimate Warrior. All this and more on special Mother’s Day edition of Superstars!

Superstars 05/16/1992 [Duration: 44:47]
The curse of Papa Shango exhibits some devastating effects on The Ultimate Warrior, as he takes to the ring to battle one of The Nasty Boys in the featured contest. Also featured in action, Shawn Michaels, The Berzerker, Big Boss Man, and many more!

Superstars 05/23/1992 [Duration: 45:24]
Despite his best efforts to overcome the curse of Papa Shango, The Ultimate Warrior still finds himself mystified to his enemy’s power during a featured interview. Plus, The Undertaker, Money Inc., Davey Boy Smith, and many more take to the ring for some exciting battles!

Superstars 05/30/1992 [Duration: 45:54]
With his curse of The Ultimate Warrior still going strong, things get heated when Papa Shango takes to the ring for action. Big Boss Man finds himself at the mercy of one of the Department of Corrections’ fiercest residents. Plus, ‘The Model’ Rick Martel, The Legion of Doom, and more are in featured competition!

Superstars 06/06/1992 [Duration: 45:58]
Mean Gene Okerlund finds himself personally affected by the supernatural powers of Papa Shango during a special one-on-one interview with the man who placed a hex on The Ultimate Warrior. Plus, Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart kicks off the action, Crush continues to show his dominating abilities, and much more!

Superstars 06/13/1992 [Duration: 45:38]
Macho Man Randy Savage reaffirms his willingness to do whatever it takes to retain the WWE Championship during a special interview. Just weeks after decimating Big Boss Man, the dangerous convict known as Nailz takes to the ring for singles competition. Also featured in action, The Natural Disasters, Tatanka, and many more!

Superstars 06/20/1992 [Duration: 43:14]
Once again, the supernatural powers of Papa Shango strike fear into the hearts of all his would-be opponents. The bell tolls as The Undertaker returns to the squared circle for singles competition. Plus, Money Inc., The Legion of Doom, Crush, and many more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 06/27/1992 [Duration: 44:11]
Paul Ellering leads his Legion of Doom back to their roots, as they discover what remains of an old friend. Nailz continues to show his criminal mentality during a singles bout. Also featured in action, Kamala, High Energy, The Berzerker, and many more!

Superstars 07/04/1992 [Duration: 45:22]
Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart is featured in singles competition, as he takes to the ring to face Barry Horowitz. Repo Man stoops to another new low in his profession. Also featured in action, Sgt. Slaughter, The Beverly Brothers, Papa Shango, and more!

Superstars 07/11/1992 [Duration: 44:57]
With ‘Rocco’ in hand, Paul Ellering leads his Legion of Doom to the ring for tag team competition. Mean Gene Okerlund finds himself in a dangerous position when he is joined by Kamala and his associates. Plus, Shawn Michaels, Tatanka, Nailz, and many more are featured in action!

Superstars 07/18/1992 [Duration: 43:40]
The world eagerly awaits the much-anticipated announcement of what will be the main event at the historic SummerSlam set to take place in England. Big Boss Man joins Mean Gene Okerlund for a special interview to address his issues with Nailz. Plus, Ric Flair, The Mountie, Virgil, and many more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 07/25/1992 [Duration: 44:36]
Tensions escalate on the road to SummerSlam, as WWE Champion Macho Man Randy Savage meets face-to-face with The Ultimate Warrior. Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect put themselves right in the thick of things with their taunts. Plus, Shawn Michaels, Nailz, Tatanka, and more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 08/01/1992 [Duration: 45:26]
With so much at stake for his family heading into SummerSlam, Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart takes to the ring to go one-on-one with Iron Mike Sharpe. The Undertaker vows to lay Kamala to rest during a special interview with Mean Gene Okerlund. Plus, Rick ‘The Model’ Martel, The Nasty Boys, and many more!

Superstars 08/08/1992 [Duration: 45:22]
Ric Flair disrupts the rivalry between WWE Champion Macho Man Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior by bringing a business deal to light. The WWE is changed forever, as Razor Ramon makes his debut. Plus, Kamala, The Natural Disasters, and many more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 08/15/1992 [Duration: 45:21]
With speculation running rampant, WWE Champion Macho Man Randy Savage clears the air about Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect’s claims heading into SummerSlam. Big Boss Man returns to action to go one-on-one with Skinner. Plus, The Undertaker, Kamala, and many more take to the ring for some exciting competition!

Superstars 08/22/1992 [Duration: 45:20]
The Bushwhackers and ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan unite to take on Repo Man and The Beverly Brothers in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart is greeted by an unexpected visitor during a singles bout. Plus, Crush, Razor Ramon, and many more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 08/29/1992 [Duration: 45:50]
As the most important battle during his reign as Intercontinental Champion approaches at SummerSlam, Bret Hart takes to the ring to go one-on-one with Louie Spicolli. Also featured in action, Ric Flair, Tatanka, Rick ‘The Model’ Martel, and many more!

Superstars 09/05/1992 [Duration: 45:39]
The aftermath of SummerSlam sees several exciting competitors heading to the ring for action. From Paul Ellering leading his Legion of Doom into battle, to the likes of Money Inc., Crush, and many more all looking to show their skills in the squared circle, Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect host some memorable matches!

Superstars 09/12/1992 [Duration: 45:20]
With Ric Flair successfully capturing the WWE Championship from Macho Man Randy Savage on Prime Time Wrestling, Mean Gene Okerlund recaps everyone on the controversial bout and the former champion’s new rival, Razor Ramon. Plus, The Undertaker, The Nasty Boys, Papa Shango, and many more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 09/19/1992 [Duration: 45:36]
While singling out the arrogant Razor Ramon as the man who cost him his reign as WWE Champion, Macho Man Randy Savage reestablishes his friendship with The Ultimate Warrior. Plus, Shawn Michaels, Kamala, Nailz, and many more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 09/26/1992 [Duration: 45:40]
Weeks following his capture of the coveted WWE Championship, Ric Flair returns to send a message to everyone with a desire to challenge him for his newly won title. Intercontinental Champion The British Bulldog takes to the ring to battle Barry Hardy. Also featuring in action, Razor Ramon, Papa Shango, Big Boss Man, and more!

Superstars 10/03/1992 [Duration: 45:37]
Razor Ramon joins Mean Gene Okerlund to speak his mind about the recent challenge laid out by Macho Man Randy Savage. A body bag may be the final resting place for The Undertaker’s next opponent. Plus, Rick ‘The Model’ Martel, Crush, Repo Man, and more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 10/10/1992 [Duration: 43:06]
With a date set up to team with WWE Champion Ric Flair against The Ultimate Maniacs at Survivor Series, Razor Ramon takes to the ring to show his dominance in singles competition. Plus, Bret Hart, High Energy, Max Moon, and many more are also featured in action!

Superstars 10/17/1992 [Duration: 45:19]
As the entire wrestling world continues buzzing over Bret Hart’s unexpected capture of the WWE Championship from Ric Flair, Mr. Perfect chastises The Nature Boy for not heeding his advice. Plus, Tatanka, Big Boss Man, Intercontinental Champion The British Bulldog, and more are featured in action!

Superstars 10/24/1992 [Duration: 45:20]
Tensions between The Undertaker and Nailz escalate on a night where both men take to the ring to compete in a pair of singles bouts. Also featured in action, Papa Shango, Rick ‘The Model’ Martel, WWE Tag Tag Champions The Natural Disasters, and many more!

Superstars 10/31/1992 [Duration: 45:42]
For the first time since being put through The Barber Shop window, Marty Jannetty returns to deliver some heartbreak to his former ally, Shawn Michaels. Money Inc. challenges The Natural Disasters for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Plus, Tatanka, Yokozuna, and many more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 11/07/1992 [Duration: 45:38]
The duo of Owen Hart and Koko B. Ware are on the hunt for gold, as High Energy challenges Money Inc. for the WWE Tag Team Championship in the main event. Big Boss Man comments on his upcoming battle at Survivor Series against Nailz. Plus, Damian Demento, The Head Shrinkers, and many more are featured in action!

Superstars 11/14/1992 [Duration: 45:40]
Repo Man’s desire to take what others have leads him to challenge The British Bulldog for the coveted Intercontinental Championship. As part of the same Survivor Series team, The Nasty Boys and The Natural Disasters send a message to their opponents. Plus, Nailz, Marty Jannetty, and many more take to the ring for action!

Superstars 11/21/1992 [Duration: 45:42]
Virgil is faced with an opportunity of a lifetime, as the former manservant of Ted DiBiase takes to the ring to challenge Bret Hart for the WWE Championship. Plus, The Natural Disasters, Yokozuna, and many more are featured in action!

Superstars 12/05/1992 [Duration: 44:07]
With an upcoming match against The Undertaker on his mind, Nailz joins Mean Gene Okerlund to share some insight to his time in prison and send a message to his opponent. Also featured in action, Tatanka, the duo known as High Energy, Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels, and more!

That’s all. No word on when more episodes will be added, but there’s a lot of content there if you’re interested in checking it out.

]]>Happy Royal Rumble week! It’s a fun time of year for WWE fans. There were more names announced for the Women’s Royal Rumble match yesterday on WWE’s Twitter account. When WWE hyped up this “event” there was a belief that maybe they would announce the entire field of women’s wrestlers in the Rumble match. Nope. They only announced nine more names, which brings the total of women’s names up to 21.

Who are the remaining nine competitors? They might get announced on Raw and Smackdown this week, but they could also be some NXT wrestlers, legends from the past (like Trish Stratus, Lita and others) and I also think there’s a strong possibility that Becky Lynch is in the match even though she’s going after Asuka’s Smackdown Women’s Title on Sunday as well. Anyway, we’ll have a full Royal Rumble preview up later in the week.

]]>It’s time to wrap up the 1990s Royal Rumble events with the last three Rumble matches from the decade. By this point, a lot of the key stars that would be main eventers in the company were finding their way. Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H and Mankind went from being midcard talent when they started to being some of the biggest names in the business as WWE ushered in the very exciting “Attitude Era” that saw the compass surpass WCW in the Monday Night Wars.

This is the 10th Royal Rumble match. We are onto 1997 and the World Wrestling Federation is about to turn the corner to being a highly successful company once again. A lot of the credit for that has to go to Steve Austin, who was now Stone Cold and was gaining a lot of steam as the guy that everybody in the business was talking about. He was coming off a classic match against Bret Hart at Survivor Series 1996 (I loved it so much that I’d rank it as one of the best feuds in the history of the company) that would make the two of them the focus of this match. The rest of the roster was getting better too, after some awful talent filled the previous four Rumble matches. The company wasn’t at their best yet, but they were about to get there.

WWF Royal RumbleJanuary 19, 1997San Antonio, Texas

The announcers are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. This would be the last Rumble where Vince is announcing. This was in the Alamodome in San Antonio, so they had over 60,000 fans. The intervals for entrants is 90 seconds. I like 90 seconds more than the typical 120 seconds and a lot better than the one year they did 60 seconds. There’s a better flow to the match when it’s 90 seconds between entrants.

It’s Crush of the Nation of Domination at #1. This is the third different gimmick of Crush that has been in a Rumble. He’s a heel here. It’s Ahmed Johnson at #2, who was an upper midcard babyface that was feuding with the Nation in this time period. Crush tried to eliminate him, but he couldn’t do it. There was a problem with their clock, but the #3 man is the fake Razor Ramon and Ahmed quickly eliminates him. What a stupid gimmick idea that was. Johnson nearly eliminates Crush. Then he sees Faarooq, jumps over the top rope and eliminates himself. Randy Savage did that in a previous Rumble and they said you can’t eliminate yourself, but that changed. “He is an idiot,” says Lawler. That’s an accurate observation right there. It’s Phinneas I. Godwinn aka PIG at #4. We would come to know him as Mideon in the future. This was not an exciting 90 seconds. Then the glass breaks at #5 for Stone Cold Steve Austin. Suddenly the match becomes a lot better. Thank you Stone Cold. He gets a heel reaction although it’s not deafening. The turn would come in a few months. Phinneas takes him down with a clothesline. Austin goes to double team Phinneas, but he hits Crush and Phinneas throws Crush out. Austin hits a Stunner (without the kick at this point in his career) on Phinneas and throws him out.

With Austin all by himself in the ring, the #6 entry is Bart Gunn of the Smoking Gunns tag team. He hits a sloppy leg drop on the back of the head. He charges in, Austin ducks, Bart holds on and Austin clotheslines him out. Austin does pushups in the ring and then sits on the top rope waiting for the next guy. In a classic move, he looks at his wrist as if he’s looking at his watch. I’m such a huge Stone Cold mark. It’s Jake Roberts at #7, who is in his 6th Rumble. He throws the snake in and then he applies a wristlock for about a minute before hitting the short clothesline. With Davey Boy Smith coming in at #8, Austin throws out Jake Roberts. Bulldog hits a running powerslam. There’s Pierroth at #9 from Mexican promotion AAA, according to JR. Austin hits a double axe on him, but they get Austin down. The #10 entrant is The Sultan, who was also Fatu and Rikishi. He’s wearing a mask now and he’s got the curved toe boots like his manager The Iron Shiek. It was not a gimmick that would last a long time. Austin nearly gets eliminated by Bulldog, but he hangs on.

Our fifth man in the ring is #11 Mil Mascaras. The San Antonio crowd is familiar with him because he was a Mexican wrestling legend. Lawler immediately talks about somebody unmasking him. He goes after the Sultan while the other three guys don’t do much on the other side of the ring. It’s Hunter Hearst Helmsley at #12. He retained the IC title earlier in the show. Bulldog eliminates The Sultan. Austin throws out Hunter, but he’s able to hang on. These two might have a future. It’s Owen Hart at #13, who was one of my favorites at this time. He was the tag champ with Bulldog at this point. They’re heels, of course. Bulldog tries to eliminate Austin, so Owen comes up from behind and shoves Bulldog out. Owen claims he was going for Austin. “Owen hasn’t told the truth since The King was a Prince,” says JR. Haha, that’s a good line. It’s Goldust at #14, who was a babyface feuding with Triple H here. Mascaras tries to get Owen out. He’s able to hang on. All six guys start fighting eachother before they pair off again. There’s Cibernetico at #15. They had a thin roster, so they brought in these Mexican stars since the San Antonio crowd was familiar with them. Helmsley hangs on from a near elimination.

It’s “Wildman” Marc Mero at #16. While this is going on, Mascaras eliminates Cibernetico, and then Pierroth and then he leaps over the top to take out Pierroth, which eliminates himself. He so crazy! Goldust eliminates Triple H with a clothesline. We’re about a year away from Sable’s breasts being among the most talented superstars in the company. It’s Latin Lover at #17. That’s another import from AAA. He drills Owen with a superkick. Goldust tries to throw Owen out, but Owen skins the cat back in. He eliminates Goldust with a club to the back. There’s Faarooq at #18 as a heel. The Latin Lover charges at him and Faarooq dumps him out with a backdrop. Ahmed Johnson comes into the ring with a 2×4. It’s Hacksaw Ahmed Johnson and he knocks Faarooq out of the match. I never liked that when an eliminated guy can eliminate a guy that’s in the match. Austin gets rid of Owen & Mero. We’re down to just Austin in the ring now. The clock counts down and here’s #19…Savio Vega. They had a feud in 1996. Vince calls their strap match a classic, which is a major stretch. Vega gets him down with a spin kick. Austin catches him with a Stun Gun (a big move of his in his WCW days) and clotheslines Vega out of the ring. The crowd reacts to Austin being alone again. He waves for the next guy to come. He has about 30 seconds before the next guy enters. It’s #20 Jesse James, who is not yet the Road Dogg. He would be in a year. He gets a clothesline on Austin as well as a strut. Austin kicks him in the ribs, throws him over the top, JJ holds on and Austin knocks him out with a back elbow. He’s all alone again. What a great performance by Austin.

The entrant at #21 is his biggest rival in the company…Bret Hart. Vince starts yelling “YES! YES! YES!” Austin has a classic expression on his face, showing some fear. That’s an awesome moment right there. Then he gets ready and they start slugging away. Bret hits an atomic drop and clothesline. He beats on Austin in the corner. Austin’s selling fatigue while Hart is all over him. He puts him in the Sharpshooter. The music plays for #22 and it’s Jerry Lawler, who is at the announce table. He takes off his jacket, jumps into the ring, Bret punches him once, Lawler doesn’t go over, but he hits him again and Lawler is out. The announcers say they think he broke a record. Nope. This was four seconds or so. Warlord still had the record at two seconds. There’s “Diesel” at #23, who is actually Glenn Jacobs aka Kane and Isaac Yankem. He looks like Diesel and dresses the same as him. It’s Terry Funk at #24, who was in the WWF fairly regularly at this point. Vince was so excited about Diesel almost throwing out Bret. The announcers tried to put over how Bret was complaining about being in the match. It was the start of his heel turn. Funk hits Bret with a very sloppy piledriver. At #25 take it away Vince: “Here comes Rocky Maivia, the rookie! This man can win this thing!” You think they believed in his potential? It’s Austin and Rocky brawling. This was The Rock’s very early babyface run that the fans would eventually hate and turn him heel. Bret tries to throw Funk out, but he hangs on. Rock tries to get Austin out. Can’t do it. Those are four of the best wrestlers ever right there. And there’s Kane too. That’s five legit Hall of Famers, really. King doesn’t remember that he was in there. That’s pretty funny actually.

The #26 man is Mankind, who is another Hall of Famer. That’s a lot of talent in the ring there when you think about it. Mankind tries to get rid of Funk, but he can’t do it. Big suplex by Austin on Hart. It’s Flash Funk aka Too Cold Scorpio at #27. He was a newcomer to the WWF at this time. Hart hits an awesome piledriver on Austin. Flash takes out two guys with a crossbody block. We’ve got three guys left and at #28 it’s time, it’s time, it’s Vader Time. He’s a heel in the upper midcard. Mankind holds on from elimination from Terry Funk. Vader destroys Flash and then squashes Austin just for fun. It’s the hog farmer Henry O. Godwinn at #29. Vince is excited. He’s probably doing the “don’t go messing with a country boy” dance right now. We all know who the last man is. It’s a big name at #30…The Undertaker. The lights go out and he enters the fray rather slowly. He’s a babyface here. I honestly think that 1997 was the best year of Undertaker’s career. He was healthy the whole year, he had a lot of good matches and didn’t really have the ridiculous feuds that hurt him over the years.

The Undertaker goes after Vader, Mankind and Austin, hitting Stone Cold with a chokeslam. He hits Vader with a chokeslam. Things slow down for a bit and then there’s an awesome elimination by Vader. Flash Funk jumps into him with a crossbody, Vader catches him and he chucks him over his head, over to the top and he goes crashing to the floor. That was fantastic. They mention Austin being in the ring for over 40 minutes while The King picks everybody to win. Rocky nearly eliminates Bret, but he hangs on. I marked out a little seeing Austin, Rocky and Bret interact right there. Those are Austin’s two best opponents. Imagine that as a triple threat dream match? Undertaker puts the double choke on HOG and throws him out of there, which leaves us with seven guys. Undertaker nearly dumps Austin, but he holds on. Mankind puts the Mandible Claw on Rocky and shoves him over the top to the floor. Funk and Mankind enjoy brawling with eachother. Mankind does the Cactus clothesline on Funk, but they both hold on. Mankind pulls him over the top, suplex style. Undertaker dumps Mankind, who starts brawling with Funk on the floor. We’re down to five. It’s going to be Diesel! He’s going to yank out your teeth and then drive over them with his truck! Oh wait a second. Bret throws out Austin to a big pop! The refs don’t see it, though, because they’re all on the other side of the ring breaking up the Funk/Mankind fight.

Austin sneaks back in the ring and he dumps Vader and Undertaker. Bret eliminates Diesel. Austin goes over to Bret and dumps him out of the ring for the win. The ref raises Austin’s hand as the winner of the match.

Winner: Steve Austin

Post match, Bret Hart’s furious about it. He tells the refs about how he eliminated Austin. He goes over to Vince and starts yelling at him. This was around the time when they would make mention of Vince being the owner of the company. It was part of the WWF becoming an edgier product. “Talk about unsportsmanlike conduct,” says Vince. JR says he’s got a heck of a grudge, but he points out that the referees never saw the elimination.

The match ended at 50:29.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– I liked the finish. It was different and it made me want to see what was going to happen next. It also put over how great Austin’s character was. The Rumble’s about making stars. This helped propel Austin to the level that we’d all see him at for his main event run. They ended up doing the Final Four PPV with Austin and the three guys he illegally eliminated: Bret, Undertaker and Vader. It was supposed to be a number one contender’s match, but with HBK “losing his smile” it was for the vacated WWF Title. Bret won the match and then lost the next night to Sid, who reportedly shit in his trunks (if you want to believe that story) while he lost the WWF Title to Undertaker at WM13. Confused? It’s okay. We got the Hart/Austin WM13 match that I consider to be the best ever, so thanks to HBK for losing that smile.

– Austin was fantastic. The spots where he was alone in the ring were great. I remember popping huge when Bret’s music hit and Austin had this “oh shit” look on his face. It’s one of those images you never forget. Austin’s work in the ring was great, but his facial expressions were very key to his success too. It helped his personality really get over.

– If you look at some of the people in this match you can make the case for it being a match with the most sure thing Hall of Famers ever. A lot of them were yet to be elite by this point, they were about to get there in the coming years. It’s cool to be able to look back on a match like this and see future main eventers before they got to that level. There are a lot of legitimately huge names in the match. The booking isn’t necessarily the reason the WWF got huge again. The talent on the roster was very good from this point forward and into the early 2000s.

– I loved Jerry Lawler as a heel announcer. He really shined here with some of his jokes especially his comments about what he’d do if he got in there, which he said AFTER he got eliminated. The watered down version we’ve had to listen to the last few years is painful compared to what he was here. Also, I really didn’t miss Vince when he stopped doing commentary.

– The crowd was poor. They didn’t react to very much for such a big crowd. There must have been a lot of free tickets being given away. The reason they did it in San Antonio’s dome was because it was Shawn Michaels’ hometown and they wanted it to be big when he won the belt back. He didn’t have a great match with Sid, though.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: Steve Austin at 45:07.

Most Eliminations: Steve Austin with 10.

Best Performers (3): Steve Austin – This was the second best Rumble performance by a single person in the history of the Rumble to this point. Flair in 1992 was was better, but this was very close.

Bret Hart – I loved his chemistry with Austin. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Owen Hart – He was only in for about 9 minutes. Nobody else stood out. I enjoyed his heel shtick so much, though.

Best Elimination: There were some really good ones. My favorite was Vader throwing out Flash Flunk. That looked very painful.

Match Rating: ***1/4 It definitely had its slow points, but Austin really did an amazing job of carrying it. I’ve always liked this Rumble.

—

his is the 11th Royal Rumble and the first one where Steve Austin officially became “the man” in the WWF. He wasn’t at the main event level yet, but the outcome of this Rumble was probably the most obvious of any Rumble in the history of the event. There was nobody else.

Even though Austin suffered a brutal neck injury at Summerslam 1997, he returned to the ring three months later at Survivor Series 1997 and by the time we got to the Rumble he was looking close to 100% again. He was clearly becoming the face of the company and as a result WWE would soon pass WCW as the #1 wrestling promotion in the world again. This was a step in that right direction.

WWF Royal RumbleJanuary 18, 1998 San Jose, California

The announcers are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. It says the intervals for entrants are 2 minutes each, but they are between 90 to 120 seconds. I should also add that Mike Tyson is sitting in a private box with Shane McMahon. He would be involved in the WrestleMania 14 main event (we didn’t know how at this point) while he was banned from boxing due to the ear biting incident with Evander Holyfield.

We start with Cactus Jack at #1, who comes out with trash cans. He’s a popular babyface. There’s Chainsaw Charlie at #2, who is of course Terry Funk with some pantyhose on his head. Also a babyface. He’s out with a chainsaw. Cactus throws chairs into the ring. Charlie hits him with the back with some chair shots and they do some dueling chairshot spots. Charlie begs for a chair shot and Cactus delivers a blow to the head. He stumbles around. Then Cactus gives Charlie a chair and he delivers two shots to his head. Chair shots to the head are banned in WWE today, which is a good thing. It’s Tom Brandi at #3 and they dump him out at #12. Jack & Charlie brawl some more. Cactus sets up some seated chairs and suplexes Charlie onto the two folding chairs. He can’t eliminate him, though. Keep in mind they’re both babyfaces as well as friends. They’d go onto to be tag champs later in the year. There’s The Rock at #4, who is the heel Intercontinental Champion and wrestled Ken Shamrock earlier in the show. He’s way better as a character here than he was the year earlier when he made his Rumble debut as Rocky Maivia the babyface. Rocky works on Chainsaw, so Cactus drills him with a trash can and they put it on his head. Then they punch him and hit him with a chair into the trash can. Rocky gets sent through the middle rope to the floor. It’s Headbanger Mosh at #5. He DDTs Charlie, who stumbles all over the place. Charlie hits a moonsault that barely hits Mosh. We can forgive him because it’s F’N Terry Funk.

We are joined by Phinneas Godwinn at #6, who is in evil farmer mode at this point. Things slow down a bit here. Poor Funk is simply sitting in a corner because he’s so tired. We have 8-Ball at #7 from the Disciples of Apocalypse group. This was a time when the WWF was crazy about having stables. Jack charges into Charlie, who ducks, and Cactus is eliminated. Rock tries to eliminate Charlie, but he hangs on. We’re onto #8, who is a future World Champion…Blackjack Bradshaw aka JBL. He’s not yet an Acolyte here. Everybody in the match is part of a stable or team except Chainshaw Charlie, who keeps hanging on from being eliminated. There’s Owen Hart at #9, but he gets jumped by Jeff Jarrett, who was representing the NWA at this time. He beats him up in the aisle. Owen was a babyface because his brother Bret getting screwed made him sympathetic as “The Black Hart.” It’s Mr. Personality Steve Blackman at #10. That’s a joke. He wasn’t a very charismatic guy. Charlie keeps hanging on! He’s a lot better at that then I remembered. Piledriver by 8-Ball onto Charlie. Funk is taking more bumps than anybody else in this match. He really is middle aged and crazy as they keep saying.

We have another Nation of Domination member, D-Lo Brown, at #11. What’s his job today? He’s a backstage agent for TNA. Brown and Rock work on Bradshaw. Then they start fighting with eachother even though they are both in the Nation. It’s Kurrgan at #12, who they bill as 7’0″ 350 pounds. A threat to win! He’s actually a Canadian, but is not one of our greatest exports. He dumps Mosh out of the match. Blackman goes for a kick, but that misses and Kurrgan pounds on him in the corner. There’s Marc Mero at #13. As I wrote in the last Rumble recap, Sable’s breasts would become very popular within a year and you can tell by the monster pop. It’s not for Marc. What’s she doing these days? Married to Brock Lesnar with kids. Ross says Marc Mero “needs one of those charisma bypasses,” which wasn’t a good endorsement for Mero. Kurrgan eliminates Blackman. Big babyface pop for #14 Ken Shamrock, who was in a hot feud with The Rock. They had a match earlier in the night and it would continue to WrestleMania. He gets Kurrgan down and then six or seven of them gang up to eliminate Kurrgan. It’s Headbanger Thrasher at #15 to a decent sized babyface pop. The Rock & D-Lo keep fighting eachother. The crowd gets bored, so they start chanting for Sable a bit. I don’t blame them. There’s not too much action in there.

The #16 entry is Mankind, who is Mick Foley, who was also Cactus Jack earlier in the match. He eliminates Charlie. I remember marking out a little bit when Foley showed up with his second gimmick. It came at a time when he was switching between the three gimmicks fairly regularly, so it worked for this match. Shamrock starts working over Rock, which is great because I loved their feud. It’s The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust at #17 wearing this weird silver outfit with his blue hair, painted face and some other stuff that is hard to explain. Oh yeah, he’s got the orange shoes too. He’s a heel here as the announcers basically call him a crazy person. Goldust eliminates Mankind with a hiptoss. There’s Jeff Jarrett, the NWA North American Champion, in at #18. Owen Hart comes sprinting into the ring. He goes right after Jeff Jarrett, showing no pain from the attack earlier in the match. He hits a back heel kick on Jarrett. He got some really good reactions from the crowd. Jeff tries to throw Owen out, but Owen hangs on, Jeff does his strut and Owen throws him out of the ring to eliminate him. It’s The Honky Tonk Man at #19. Meanwhile, HHH and Chyna come out on crutches. He’s the Euro champ. Rock eliminates Shamrock. Owen starts yelling at HHH and Chyna. Chyna goes to hit him with a crutch, Owen catches it, so HHH drills him with a crutch while he’s standing on the apron. Owen gets eliminated. There’s Ahmed Johnson at #20. JR mentions Ahmed’s injuries slowing him down in his career. He looks injured just rolling into the ring. They show a replay of Shamrock’s elimination, which they missed originally. It was caused by Rock hitting him with a low blow.

The #21 entrant is the newest member of the Nation, Mark Henry! Do I even have to say he’s a threat to win? Lawler: “I’d say he’s an odds on favorite right now.” Enough said! Johnson looks like he’s in terrible shape here, really. He looks very immobile and winded already. Mark Henry threw some powder into Ahmed’s eyes. Is there anything Mark can’t do? There’s nobody coming at #22. It was supposed to be Skull from DOA, but he was attacked by Los Boricuas earlier because he looks like Austin with the shaved head. Brown and Henry eliminate Johnson, who really looks bad. For some reason, Ahmed starts brawling with Phinneas on the floor. Why? Ahmed was a drug user. That’s all I can do to explain that one. Henry is the one that eliminated Phinneas. It’s Kama of the Nation at #23. Four Nation guys are in there with Faarooq still to come. The announcers keep saying that Austin was #22, but that he might have been eliminated due to the bounty that was placed on him. Time for #24, you might know this guy…”Stone Cold” Steve Austin. By far the biggest pop of the night goes to him. Everybody in the ring stops as music plays. They all look up the aisle. He comes in through the crowd. He eliminates Mero. He eliminates 8-Ball. He chokes D-Lo with his jacket just for fun. JR has a few joygasms during all this. It’s Henry Godwinn at #25 as the announcers throw in the usual “he’s 300 pounds plus” comment. They mention Bradshaw being in there for 36 minutes.

The last five men are about to enter with all four members of the Boricuas going in after Steve Austin. It’s #26 Savio Vega and friends. Austin disposes of them one at a time while Savio stays in the ring. The action has slowed down a lot as the ring is full with too many people. JR keeps talking about Bradshaw, calling him a big young stud. JR was basically the guy in charge of hiring talent at this time, so you can tell he had a big hand in recruiting Bradshaw due to the comment. It’s Nation of Domination leader Faarooq at #27. He goes right after Rock for some reason. Austin and Rock start fighting on the floor after they go through the ropes. Rock whips him into the steel steps, which Austin takes on his lower back. Rock drops him jaw first onto the railing. Rock goes back in while Austin recovers. There’s Dude Love aka Mick Foley at #28. His third gimmick in one match. He eliminates Bradshaw. Austin whips Goldust into the steps and decks him with a clothesline. The Rock hits the People’s Elbow on D-Lo although it didn’t get the pop that it would in future years. There’s Chainz of DOA at #29. Not a threat to win. There are 12 guys in the ring right now with Vader entering at #30, who JR calls a “stinky, grizzly bear.” He was a face here, feuding with Goldust.

It’s time to start eliminating people. Vader throws out Honky Tonk Man. Austin throws out Headbanger Thrasher and Kama in succession. Austin fights Savio and throws him out too. Goldust clotheslines Vader out of the match. Dude Love eliminates Henry Godwinn. Chainz eliminates Goldust leaving us with six guys. Austin eliminates Chainz. Faarooq tries to eliminate Henry, but Mark hangs on! Yeah! He’s gonna win! Then he tries going back in and Faarooq knocks him out in a spot that looked screwed up. It’s okay Mark, I still love ya.

The final four are Austin, Dude Love, Faarooq and The Rock, so we have an even mix of heels and faces.

A good foursome to end it. It’s awesome how Foley started it with one gimmick and is at the end with another gimmick. Dude hits Sweet Shin Music on The Rock and a DDT. Austin goes after him, but Dude comes back with the Mandible Claw. Austin kicks him in the junk and Faarooq clotheslines him out. Faarooq goes after Austin. He’s close to eliminating him, so Rock sits down in the other corner. He waits for his spot and he dumps Faarooq out, who was the leader of The Nation at this point. JR says Rock’s going to go coast to coast here even though he started 5th. It’s okay. He’s excited. Austin throws him over the top, but Rock hangs on. Stunner by Austin, Rock sells it by popping back to his feet in a daze and Austin throws him out to win the match.

Winner: Steve Austin

The match ended at 55:24.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– The booking was poor here because there were way too many people in the ring at one time. It felt boring far too many times during the match.

– The whole “bounty on Austin” thing was a nice selling point, but other than everybody stopping when his music hit they never really went after him. They could have done a better job of making it Austin against the world.

– The difference between The Rock in this match from a year earlier is mind-boggling. He went from being just another random guy to being THE guy other than Austin. He made an incredible leap. It also helped that the WWF totally believed in him too.

– It’s amazing how at the time of this match 13 years ago I didn’t even flinch during the chairshot exchanges by Foley & Funk early on. Today, though, I cringed a few times because of all the information that’s out there now. It would never happen in WWE today and that’s a good thing.

– Fun fact. My boy Mark Henry eliminated TWO people here. He has eliminated zero people in Royal Rumble matches since then…according to people I trust. I’m not looking up Mark Henry stats. Other Mark Henry fans do that. He has legions of them.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: The Rock at 51:32.

Most Eliminations: Steve Austin with 7.

Best Performers (3): The Rock – He was put in the “star making” spot. It worked.

Steve Austin – He was ridiculously popular at this point. His peak would come, but he was close to it here.

Cactus Jack/Mankind/Dude Love – You could tell he was having a lot of fun on this night.

Best Elimination: Austin eliminating Rock just because I loved how Rock sold the Stunner.

Match Rating: **1/2 A very average Rumble. They had a lot of new wrestlers in the match as JR kept pointing out, so the star power wasn’t great.

—

The 12th Royal Rumble came at a time when the World Wrestling Federation was thriving. They were now officially kicking WCW’s ass and the main reason was because of the red hot feud between top babyface Steve Austin and top heel Vince McMahon, who just two years earlier was the announcer of this event.

The Rock, the heel corporate champion, won the WWF title earlier in the night, so the thinking was that Steve Austin would win this match to set up the title match at WrestleMania 15. It was a big deal to have Vince McMahon in this match because prior to this he never wrestled. Going into the match, one of the big things was the $100,000 bounty that Vince placed on Austin. The announcers really drove that point home. It was part of “stacking the odds” against Stone Cold.

WWF Royal RumbleJanuary 24, 1999Anaheim, California

The announcers are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler due to Jim Ross being away with his Bell’s Pallsy illness. He’d return to call the main event at WrestleMania XV a few months later and would remain in that seat for years to come. During The Fink’s intro of the Rumble, Lawler yells at him about going on too long. Pretty funny.

The #1 participant is Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was embroiled in the very hot feud with #2…Vince McMahon. Lawler was heavily on Vince’s side, which makes this great. He points out that Vince has never lost a match in his life while Cole says Vince has never had a match. Vince comes out with no theme music and looks really ripped. He’s also oiled up quite a bit. Did I just offer a description of a shirtless Vince McMahon? Shoot me. Austin opens up by stomping on Vince in the corner. Bodyslam by Austin and a stomp to the nuts. There’s Golga (aka John Tenta aka Earthquake) of the Oddities at #3. Austin hits a Thesz Press on Vince. Austin throws Golga out quickly. Vince rolls out of the ring under the bottom rope. Austin chases him into the crowd where they start brawling. Vince runs up the steps to get away from him. The camera shows Austin beating up on Vince in the lobby. Vince runs into the ladies room and the Corporation is in there. They beat up Austin as the camera fades out. Meanwhile the #4 entry is Droz of Legion of Doom. He waits in the ring by himself and it’s Edge at #5 making his Royal Rumble debut. He gets a pretty good pop. He shows a lot of fire, but not much happens.

Here’s a threat to win at #6, the man called Gillberg! The crowd does the Gillberg chant (a parody of Goldberg in WCW), which is also a part of his theme song. This was classic. Edge dumps him out in about seven seconds. The camera shows the ladies room where all the guys in the Corporation stand over Austin, who is laid out on the floor. Back in the ring, Droz nearly eliminates Edge, but he is able to hang on. The “Lethal Weapon” Steve Blackman is #7 and he gets a good pop. This crowd was hot for Blackman. Of course, every crowd the WWF had in the era from 1998 to 2001 was usually really good because it was the hottest time in the history of the company. They show Austin getting looked at by the EMT’s and getting placed on the board. It’s “The Beast” Dan Severn at #8, who wrestles wearing a shirt because I doubt Vince was impressed with his physique. They show Austin getting wheeled away while fans chant for him. There’s Teddy Long as a ref too. They’re outside the arena now. It’s Tiger Ali Singh at #9, whose gimmick was “the elitist that doesn’t like America” as Michael Cole tells us. They show Austin leaving in an ambulance as Cole wonders where Vince is. It’s The Blue Meanie from the JOB Squad at #10. The talent in the ring isn’t very good aside from Edge. It should be pointed out that McMahon and Austin are still in the match despite not being in the ring. I think Edge just slapped Meanie in the belly.

The #11 man is supposed to be Mosh, but they show Mabel beating him up backstage. Of course due to his size the announcers wonder how he can be eliminated. Mabel eliminates Severn, Blackman and Singh in succession. Mabel eliminates Droz and Meanie as #12 comes out, The Road Dogg, who was a babyface as part of DX. He eliminates Edge, who takes a bump into the announce table. Mabel and Road Dogg start fighting as the lights go out and Undertaker’s music begins. The Acolytes (Bradshaw & Faarooq) and Mideon get Mabel out of the ring and beat on him. The Undertaker comes out where he talks to Mabel in the aisle. This led to Mabel being turned into Viscera, who was a part of the Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness. There’s Gangrel of The Brood at #13. He doesn’t last too long as Road Dogg tosses him over the top to the floor. Cole claims that Lawler picked Blackman and Gangrel to win, among others. There’s Kurrgan of the Oddities at #14. He’s a threat to win of course because he’s 7 foot, 300 pounds. A year earlier he was a serious heel and now he’s a goofy babyface. He hits a sidewalk slam on Road Dogg. “What does everybody want?” HEAD! It’s Al Snow without the Head at #15. The Head was stolen by Goldust a couple of weeks earlier. There’s a “Head” chant as they try to get Kurrgan out, but they can’t seem to do it. Road Dogg shoves Snow out of there rather easily.

There’s Goldust at #16, who was a babyface here. He hits a clothesline on Kurrgan and gets a DDT. Road Dogg tells Goldust to Suck It and sets him up for his Shattered Dreams, but Kurrgan blocks it. Goldust punches Dogg in the nuts just for fun. Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy at #17 as The Godfather enters the Rumble with ho’s. He has entered the Rumble as a few different characters over the years such as Papa Shango and Kama. Godfather hits the Ho Train splash in the corner onto Goldust. Here’s Kane making his Rumble debut as Kane at #18. In the 1996 Rumble he was Isaac Yankem and in 1997 he was fake Diesel. He quickly eliminates Road Dogg, Kurrgan, Godfather and Goldust in impressive fashion. The dudes with white coats come in and Kane beats them up. He was in the process of turning babyface at this point. He threw the coat over the rope and then he walked out of the ring, eliminating himself. He was chasing after the dudes with white coats. Vince McMahon shows up again, walking into the ring. There’s Ken Shamrock, a part of Vince’s Corporation, at #19. Vince steps through the ropes to avoid fighting Shamrock. He sits in at the announce table. He says Austin’s not coming back. We’ve got Billy Gunn at #20, who is out there without a shoe on his left foot because Shamrock injured him earlier in the show in their IC title match. Gunn fights back with a back suplex, but Shamrock cuts him down by going after the ankle again.

It’s Test of the Corporation at #21. Meanwhile, they cut backstage and show the Acolytes & Mideon putting Mabel into the hearse. Vince says he doesn’t think Mabel will ever be the same. It’s like he scripted this or something. Meanwhile, the ambulance comes back as Vince’s face is one of shock. Austin’s driving the ambulance. They show him walking through the backstage area as Vince has a sad face. He had the same face when his wife told him he had to pay the $50 million tab when she lost the election in 2010 (and 2012!). Gunn hits a double clothesline as Austin walks out. Vince drops the headset and runs. Shamrock stomps on Austin as Vince goes out the other side. The #22 entrant was The Big Boss Man also of The Corporation. Austin throws out Shamrock. Vince is back at the announce table. Break It Down for #23, Triple H, who hits the high knee on Test. Austin drills Gunn with a hard clothesline. Hello Ladies for #24, Val Venis. He quickly receives a clothesline from Triple H. Vince is yelling at the table about how somebody will get $100,000 if they get rid of Austin. He can’t believe Austin is back in there. Austin throws out Gunn. More of DX at #25 with X-Pac, who was always a good worker. Val hits a double axe off the top on Austin. X-Pac hits a spinning heel kick onto Austin as the announcers put over how everybody’s going after Steve so that they can get the money.

It’s Mark Henry as Sexual Chocolate at #26. There’s the typical comment about how it’s hard to get rid of Mark Henry due to his 400 pounds. He goes after Boss Man. There’s Jeff Jarrett at #27 with Debra. Have to say that 18 year old John Canton was a big time Debra fan. She’s one of my favorite women in wrestling ever. You think Stone Cold was checking her out while she walked down? You never know. I think they started dating a few months after this and were married about a year later. Jarrett was a heel of course. X-Pac went after his DX buddy HHH and then hit the Bronco Buster on Boss Man. You better recognize #28, D-Lo Brown, who walks out with Pretty Mean Sisters (Terri and Jackie). Test is eliminated by Austin and Boss Man throws out X-Pac. Austin hits the Thesz Press on Jarrett. Triple H throws out Jarrett. There’s Owen Hart at #29 and this is his last Rumble. Cue sad face by me. He goes right after Austin. Triple H saves a double team on Austin. Austin rolls out of the ring, takes a sip of water at the announce table and throws the pitcher of water in Vince’s face. The last person in the match is the first woman ever in the Rumble, Chyna is #30. She earned the spot in the Corporate Royal Rumble. She was a babyface. She went after Mark Henry and quickly eliminated him.

Austin clotheslines Chyna over the top because he just doesn’t give a shit. Triple H goes after him. We have 7 people left now. Triple H throws out Venis. Austin hits a Stunner on HHH and clotheslines him out, leaving us with five although only four are in the ring since Vince is still at the announce table. It’s Owen, Boss Man, D-Lo Brown, Austin and Vince. Brown hits Austin with a side kick. He misses a dropkick and Austin chokes him out. Brown gets the advantage on him, which leads to a huge “Austin” chant. Owen hits an enziguri on Austin. He charges in, but Austin ducks it and dumps him out.

The final four are Boss Man, D-Lo Brown, Vince McMahon and Steve Austin.

Boss Man knocks Austin down with a punch. Brown hits a frog splash on Austin. Boss Man eliminates Brown and then Austin hits a Stunner on Boss Man, which leads to a clothesline that eliminates him too. We’re down to just Austin and Vince now. The crowd is going nuts. Austin attacks him at the announce table. He hurls him over the barricade, beating on him some more. Austin grabs a steel chair and drills Vince in the head with it. You wouldn’t see a chair shot to the head like that in today’s WWE, which is a good thing. Austin rolls him back in the ring. Vince gets a low blow. Austin ducks a clothesline, hits the boot to the gut and hits a Stunner. He hits him with the FU elbow off the middle ropes. That’s the cue for The Rock to come out with the WWF Title. Cole said: “Rock is the man Stone Cold will face at WrestleMania.” Oops. He forgot to say “if he wins.” Rock taunts him while Austin tells him to come in. Rock jumps on the apron, Austin punches him and Vince springs to his feet to eliminate Austin! Vince wins!

Winner: Vince McMahon

The match ended at 56:38.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– You know how I said at the start that I didn’t like this Rumble? My feelings remain the same. This was the most overbooked Rumble ever. It’s no surprise that Vince Russo had a lot of booking power by this point because it had all the run-ins that we’re used to with him. Due to that the match never had a flow to it. Having Vince outside the ring for the majority of the match made sense for his character, but doesn’t mean it’s good for the match. All of the angles they ran with the likes of Mabel and Kane only hurt the match. Thankfully they learned their lesson from this Rumble because every one that follows is much better than this. How many camera shots were there away from the ring? The Rumble is about the in-ring action. Show the damn match!

– There’s no question that the star of the match was Stone Cold. Much like the year before none of the babyfaces were close to him in terms of star power. That’s a good thing in the sense that he was making a lot of money for the WWF, but it was bad in terms of trying to convince the fans that some other babyface could win.

– The crowd was fantastic, popping so well for everything they were supposed to. They even gave ovations to the midcarders that would barely get a reaction today. That’s a sign of a company that was on fire. It doesn’t mean this was a good match, though.

– I have to say Jerry Lawler was amazing here as he supported McMahon. It was almost like Bobby Heenan in the 1992 Rumble when he was backing Ric Flair the whole match. You listen to how good Lawler was here and you realize why a lot of fans, including me, miss his heel act.

– I’ll never claim to be a Chyna fan, but watching her eliminate Mark Henry was a cool moment especially in its original viewing in 1999. By the end of the year I got sick of her in the ring. It was a fresh idea at this time, though.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: Vince McMahon and Steve Austin at 56:38

Most Eliminations: Steve Austin with 8.

Best Performers (3): Steve Austin – Obvious number one.

Vince McMahon – He drew some amazing heel heat. Even though he wasn’t in the ring much he was by far the most over heel in the match. Not even close.

Jerry Lawler – Since no other wrestler stood out I’ll give the nod to him. He was excellent.

Best Elimination: McMahon dumping Austin because none of the other eliminations really mattered.

Match Rating: ** That’s tied with 1989 as the worst Rumble for me. I’ll put it slightly ahead because I loved Austin so much and the crowd was ridiculously hot whereas in 1989 it was Big John Studd showing no emotion as he won. The booking was bad, though.

]]>It’s the last Raw before WrestleMania 2000, which is the “go home” show as they say. The main event of WrestleMania was set with WWF Champion Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon) vs. The Rock (w/Vince McMahon) vs. Big Show (w/Shane McMahon) vs. Mick Foley (w/Linda McMahon). It’s fair to say McMahonamania was running wilder than ever.

Check out our WWF TV in 2000 archives in case you missed anything from earlier in the year. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport and tweet me to talk about this show or anything else. Let’s get to it.

WWF Raw #357March 27, 2000From Compaq Center in Houston, Texas

This show has a TV-14 rating and the “S” for Sexual Content on WWE Network.

The show began with a video package showing the end of Smackdown when Stephanie McMahon slapped mommy Linda McMahon.

The Raw opening video aired. The pyro went off on the stage and the crowd in Houston was very loud. There were signs all over the place with a capacity crowd in attendance. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are the announcers as usual.

Let’s Hear from Linda McMahon and others

Linda McMahon enter the ring for a monotone promo. She said it was embarrassing and degrading for her when her daughter Stephanie slapped her in the face on Smackdown. Linda thinks she made the right decision for WrestleMania by making it a Fatal 4-Way. Linda said that in giving Mick Foley the opportunity to live his dream, she had to live a nightmare. She talked about staring in the hateful, cold blue eyes of her daughter Stephanie and listening to her say terrible things – she was stupefied. Linda said the slap from Stephanie was hateful. Linda noted that she hasn’t always been a perfect mother, but she always tried to give the best direction and guidance she could for all of Stephanie’s 23 years. Linda said she didn’t deserve to be treated the way Stephanie treated her. Linda said she was demanding that Stephanie comes out there now for an apology and the fans cheered that. JR spoke up to say that Linda’s always been a good mother to her kids.

Analysis: Linda promos are sleep inducing. Very boring.

Vince McMahon made his entrance to join his wife in the ring. Remember, Vince was a face at this point, so the fans cheered him. Vince said that while they are waiting for Stephanie to come out there, Vince wanted to hear what he hopes will be Stephanie’s apology. Vince noted that he was concerned with Linda’s actions by leaving the corporate arena and entering this arena. Vince noted that he was concerned for her welfare and he was fearful that something like Thursday night would happen. Vince said that’s why he is concerned about Linda being physically in Mick Foley’s corner at WrestleMania. Linda told her husband she can take care of herself. Vince said no doubt about that because that’s a reason why he fell in love with her all those years ago. Vince said that he hopes she won’t be angry with him when he raises the hand of the new WWF Champion, The Rock. The fans cheered that. Vince said that if Stephanie has the guts that her family has, she’ll come out there and apologize without her degenerate husband by her side.

Stephanie McMahon made her entrance as she stood on the stage. That’s a short skirt. The fans greeted her with “slut” chants. She said that she guessed every child should do what their parents tell them to do, so here she is. Stephanie noted that they think her actions were deplorable and downright rude. Stephanie said she watched the footage of last Thursday, she watched the footage, it was wrong for her to slap her month, it was an act of cowardice and disrespectful to Linda. Stephanie said she didn’t know why she did it, she just felt this rage built up inside her and she said “I’m sorry” to Linda. Stephanie said she didn’t mean to slap Linda, what she really wanted to do was slap dad. She said that if she could do it again he would slap him across the face as hard as she could. Vince replied saying he would “blister her little fanny until it turns blue!” And the fans cheered that!

Triple H, the WWF Champion, joined wife Stephanie McMahon-Hemsley on the stage with JR calling him a jackass. Hunter: “What the hell kind of family did I marry into?” Good question. Hunter said they are the head of the most dysfunctional family on the planet. Vince told Hunter to come down to the ring so Vince can show him. Hunter said Vince is a violent man that needs counseling. Hunter says he’s the voice of reason that is the calm, cool, collected one while adding he’s not a violent man. The fans chanted “Asshole” and Vince noted that he’s got 20,000 people calling him an Asshole, which was not bleeped. Hunter said he didn’t give a crap about any of them. Hunter said that Vince should have packed up and gone out of town a long time ago. Hunter said it’s time to move out the old and move in the new while Vince’s ancient era should resign while a new era should run the show.

Shane McMahon showed up for the interruption and he walked out to Big Show’s theme music. Shane walked down to the ring, but not in the ring with his parents. Shane said that he and Linda are the only two level headed McMahons in this era. Shane said that what Stephanie slapping her mom was gutless and made Shane sick to his stomach. Shane said that Stephanie is a spoiled brat. Shane asked how she could do such a thing to their mother. Shane went onto the apron where he hugged his mother. Shane entered the ring. Shane said that on behalf of this side of the McMahon Family, he apologizes to everybody. Shane said that he will stand against the union of Stephanie’s marriage because it makes them sick. Shane said that as it relates to this new era, he’s with them on that one. Shane attacked Vince from behind with a microphone shot to the head!

Shane punched Vince repeatedly, which led to Hunter going into the ring and joining Shane in the attack. Stephanie went into the ring as Hunter and Shane punched Vince. Linda pulled Shane back by the hair. Stephanie grabbed her mom. Shane teased hitting his own mother, but Mick Foley ran out for the save and Linda left the ring. Foley attacked Triple H with punches. Big Show went into the ring, Show hit Foley with a headbutt and Triple H hit a clothesline on Foley. The crowd was going crazy while Show hit Foley wit ha clothesline over the top. Hunter knocked down Vince with a punch and Hunter teased a Pedigree, but Rock ran out to a huge ovation. Rock worked over Hunter and Show with punches. Hunter hit Rock with a clothesline and Show picked up Rock for a Rock Bottom. Triple H hit Foley with a Pedigree. Vince got back up, so Hunter hit Vince with a title shot to the head. The heels stood tall in the ring. After 22 minutes, this segment is over.

Analysis: It went way too long and Linda’s promo was awful, but it picked up a bit while involving all the key people for the WrestleMania main event. I don’t think it needed to run 22 minutes, so that hurt the segment. It’s the McMahon Family though, so it’s not a surprise that they took a long time.

Replays aired of the key spots from the previous segment.

(Commercial)

Chyna made her entrance to a good pop. She’s teaming with Too Cool at WrestleMania. Chris Jericho was up next and he’s in a triple threat for the Intercontinental and European Title on the line. Jericho ripped on Benoit by calling him the “Robotic Crappler.” Not a strong Jericho promo. Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero were next up.

Chris Jericho and Chyna vs. Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero

Pre-match notes: Jericho and Chyna were the faces while Benoit and Guerrero were the heels.

Guerrero attacked Chyna from behind with a forearm to the back. Chyna avoided a Guerrero attack and used a drop toe hold to send Benoit into Guerrero. Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho to Benoit, but Guerrero made the save. Chyna gave Guerrero a clothesline over the top to the floor. Jericho with a Powerbomb on Benoit. Jericho wanted a Lionsault, but Guerrero tripped him up and Benoit pinned Jericho to win the match at 1:54.

Winners by pinfall: Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero

Analysis: * Short match that was rushed likely because of the previous segment running so long. The finish to this match was poor. That shouldn’t have been enough to pin Jericho, but it was.

Post match, the heels tried a cheap attack, but the faces chased after them. Chyna went after Guerrero, which led to Saturn and Malenko attacking Chyna. The Too Cool duo of Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty made the save for Chyna. The heels left.

Analysis: It was just a quick angle to try to build to the WrestleMania six-person tag team match.

Vince McMahon was interviewed in the locker room by Michael Cole. Vince called out Shane and Linda told him not to do it. Vince just said he’s calling out Shane tonight.

(Commercial)

Hardcore Championship: Crash Holly vs. Hardcore Holly

Hardcore hit a dropkick on Crash. Tazz ran in the ring with a suplex on Hardcore. Two referees were out there. The Headbangers went to ringside and they had a referee with them. They hit Crash with a 2×4 piece of wood. Viscera joined the fight as he went after Crash. When Crash broke free, he jumped into the crowd and went backstage. The Mean Street Posse attacked Crash, but Crash left. Taka and Funaki also attacked Crash with a Japanese flag, but Crash managed to escape. The wrestlers went outside looking for Crash, but Crash hid behind a garbage can and then went into the arena again. Crash’s music to end it, so let’s call it about 2:20 of “action” if you want to call it.

Match Result: No Contest?

Analysis: No match, so no point in rating it. It led to the battle royal at WrestleMania. This was another rushed segment. It was mildly funny due to Crash finding ways to get away.

Shane McMahon was interviewed by Michael Cole in the locker room. Shane said he won’t face Vince McMahon.

Rikishi Phatu was shown walking backstage, Kevin Kelly asked about Road Dogg and Rikishi said it will be his ass in his face. Simple.

Pre-match notes: Dogg was the heel that did a babyface promo before the match. Rikishi was a face. The WrestleMania match was Dogg and X-Pac vs. Rikishi and Kane. The JR pronunciation is “Rawkishi” because of his accent.

Rikishi whipped Dogg into the turnbuckle, Dogg came back with punches and Rikishi hit Dogg with a kick to the face. Rikishi was limping on his left leg a lot. Rikishi gave Dogg the Stinkface, which did not have that name yet. Dogg left the ring looking like he was going to throw up, so Rikishi won by countout. It went 1:02.

Winner by countout: Rikishi Phatu

Analysis: DUD Crap match. Literally. They booked a countout in a one-minute match. That is brutal.

Too Cool showed up and danced with Rikishi after the match. Here’s a creative fan sign.

The Rock was interviewed by Michael Cole outside of Rock’s dressing room. Rock told Cole to shut his mouth. Rock ripped on the McMahon family drama saying he wipes a monkey’s ass with the McMahon family saga. He paused as fans chanted “Rocky” for him. Rock said that because he’s the People’s Champion, he is not done. He said that he didn’t care who it was, any way you want to bring it, you’ll have no choice but to smell what The Rock is cooking.

Analysis: There was no announcement of a match, but it let us know that Rock was going to be a part of the show later in the night.

(Commercial)

A clip of Edge and Christian were shown with the Hardy Boyz when they were interviewed on Heat. Edge and Christian left the interview saying they were sick of the bullshit. Christian attacked Jeff Hardy during a tag team match. Later in the night, the Hardys cost Edge and Christian a tag team match.

Pre-match notes: Malenko and Saturn were heels with Malenko holding the Light Heavyweight Title that is rarely defended. The Hardys were the face.

Jeff whipped Malenko into the corner, Matt tagged in and hit a clothesline. Edge and Christian were pushing their new attitude as they ripped on the character of the Hardys saying they were self centered. Saturn tagged in with a forearm to Matt to take control for the heels. Belly to back suplex by Saturn on Matt, Malenko back in with a jumping kick to Matt and Saturn back in with the heels doing a double team elbow on Matt. Malenko back in, Matt got a rollup and Malenko hit a clothesline. Saturn up top with a knee drop off the top for a two count. Edge was really pushing the heel attitude with Christian chiming in occasionally. Saturn hit a suplex for a two count. More quick tags by the heel side as they isolated Matt until Matt hit a Russian legsweep. Jeff got the hot tag with a missile dropkick on Malenko and a dropkick on both heels. Double team suplex by the Hardys on Saturn. Matt off the middle rope with a leg drop to Malenko. Matt hit a Twist of Fate on Saturn, Jeff up top, Christian pulled Saturn out of the way and Jeff hit the mat with his Swanton Bomb attempt. The ref was distracted by the guys on the floor, so Edge hit a Spear on Jeff. The ref never saw it. Saturn back up, he hooked Jeff’s arms and hit a bridging Tiger Suplex for the pinfall win at 5:46.

Winners by pinfall: Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn

Analysis: **3/4 Good match for the time given. With a few more minutes it would have been great. The finish was done that way to show that Edge and Christian had a change in attitude as heels now, so they were out there to screw the Hardys over. That’s something E&C never would have done before, but this was when WWE got aggressive with them as heels. What I noticed during this match is how popular the Hardys were especially with the female fans that were screaming for them a lot.

Post match, Saturn and Malenko celebrated the win while JR pushed the surprising actions of Edge and Christian, which again is done to accelerate their heel turn.

Shane McMahon and Big Show were interviewed by Kevin Kelly. Shane said that tonight it’s going to be Shane and Show vs. The Rock.

Kane was shown backstage staring into the camera because he’s up next.

(Commercial)

There was a shot of NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley at ringside. He was playing for the Houston Rockets at this point. It was his last year in the NBA. Barkley was one of my favorite players ever and is also a legendary announcer.

Kurt Angle, the Intercontinental and European Champion, did a pre-match promo complaining about how he has to defend both titles at Wrestlemania. He called Kane the “Big Red Retard” while noting he’s got a lot of retarded fans and he wishes them well. Angle called it a conspiracy that he doesn’t like.

Analysis: The way he delivered his lines were amazing. He could take the most ridiculous things and make it sound like it was natural to him.

Kurt Angle vs. Kane (w/Paul Bearer)

Pre-match notes: Angle was the heel and Kane was the face. This was not a title match for either of Kane’s titles.

Kane knocked down Angle with a boot to the face. Angle tripped up Kane, Bob Backlund was shown watching backstage and Kane hit a clothesline followed by a body slam. Kane missed an elbow drop because Angle moved. Angle tried to a tackle, but Kane picked him up and hit a Powerbomb. Angle left the ring, Kane went after him with punches and brought Angle back into the ring. Angle hit a neckbreaker across the top rope. Kane with a corner clothesline, he wanted a Tombstone, Angle slipped out of it and Kane came back with a sidewalk slam. Kane went up top, he jumped off and connected with the clothesline to a good pop from the crowd. Angle with a drop toe hold that sent Kane into the turnbuckle. Angle grabbed a title, Kane grabbed it, referee Jimmy Korderas put the title away, so Angle hit a low blow and a title shot to the head. The ref saw it, so it was a DQ finish.

Winner by disqualification: Kurt Angle

Analysis: *1/4 It was a typical Kane match where he dominated most of it, then Angle had to find a way to get out of there and blatantly cheated. That’s the finish because WWE didn’t want to beat Kane since he was always protected.

Post match, Kane no sold the title shot to the face, went after Angle on the ramp and tossed Angle back into the ring for more. Kane hit Angle with a Chokeslam. Kane followed up with a Tombstone for Angle. Kane set the ring posts on fire and that was it.

Vince McMahon was interviewed by Michael Cole. Vince added himself to the match because he’s teaming up with The Rock against Big Show and Shane McMahon. Vince said nobody can do anything about it.

The lovely Trish Stratus was shown walking backstage, which is always a nice sight and she’s up next with her tag team.

(Commercial)

Steve Blackman and Al Snow were shown backstage having a conversation with Snow trying to motivate Blackman using the Headcheese name.

Test and Albert entered with Trish Stratus, which meant I barely noticed the guys. Al Snow was already in the ring, so that match began.

Test (w/Albert and Trish Stratus) vs. Al Snow (w/Steve Blackman)

Pre-match notes: Test was the heel while Snow was the face. These tag teams were set for a WrestleMania match.

Snow hit Test with a neckbreaker on the floor to take control. Test went for a pumphandle slam, Snow slipped out of it and hit a Snow Plow slam. Blackman tossed the Head into the ring, but it went too far and Test hit Snow with a kick to pin him. The live shot missed the kick from Test. Snow kicked out right after the three count at 0:39.

Winner by pinfall: Test

Analysis: 1/4* It was another very short match on this show full of short matches. Weak finish. Not enough Trish on camera.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were backstage. She gave him a referee shirt so that he could be the referee for later.

(Commercial)

Triple H and Stephanie were in the office with Hunter cutting the sleeves off the referee shirt.

Bull Buchanan and Big Boss Man vs. The Acolytes (Farooq and Bradshaw)

Pre-match notes: Boss Man and Buchanan were the heels while the Acolytes were the faces.

Buchanan hit a body slam and an axe kick on Faarooq to start the match. I think that’s mot of his offense. Bradshaw tagged in against Boss Man, who ran over Bradshaw with a shoulder tackle. Bradshaw with a clothesline to the back. The Godfather’s music started as The Acolytes hit double shoulder tackles on Boss Man. Godfather and D-Lo Brown walked out with a Ho Train. One of the ho’s gave the Acolytes money, so they left. Godfather and Brown went into the ring to attack Boss Man and Buchanan, so they knocked the heels out of the ring. Call it 1:55.

Match Result: No Contest

Analysis: DUD That was awful. The match meant nothing and the Godfather/Brown thing was just done to build to their WrestleMania match against Boss Man/Buchanan, which really wasn’t worthy of being a WrestleMania match, but the WWF was hellbent on booking a lot of matches on that show.

After the match, the ho’s went into the ring with Godfather and Brown. One of the girls had ridiculously large fake breasts, so Lawler was excited.

Linda McMahon was interviewed backstage by Kevin Kelly. Linda said there will now be two special guest referees with Mick Foley joining Triple H as a referee.

(Commercial)

Mick Foley was shown in the locker room putting on a referee shirt.

GTV: Terri Runnels was in the locker room with Fabulous Moolah. The Kat showed up and gave Terri a bill for a shirt that Terri ripped off last week. Moolah ripped off a shirt off The Kat, then Mae Young showed up to battle Moolah and that ended it.

Analysis: This might have been the worst build to a WrestleMania match in the history of the event.

The Rock and Vince McMahon were shown talking backstage with Rock telling him he didn’t want him to be his partner. Rock told Vince he should stay out of Rock’s way.

There was a music video for “Know Your Role” by Method on the WWF’s Aggression CD. You can watch it below.

(Commercial)

X-Pac (w/Road Dogg and Tori) vs. D-Von Dudley (w/Bubba Ray Dudley)

Pre-match notes: X-Pac and D-Von are both heels. They Dudleys were the WWF tag team champions.

D-Von was in control early with a reverse suplex and he wanted Bubba to get a table, so Bubba set up a table outside the ring. D-Von teased putting X-Pac through the table, but X-Pac hit a spin kick to knock him down. D-Von with a back elbow on X-Pac followed by a body slam. D-Von went up top, so X-Pac hit a dropkick. Road Dogg held D-Von, so Bubba pulled X-Pac down by the hair. The ref admonished Bubba, Dogg sent D-Von throat first into the top rope and X-Pac hit the X-Factor on D-Von to win by pinfall at 2:23.

Winner by pinfall: X-Pac

Analysis: *1/2 It was a decent match with predictable outside interference that factored into the finish.

The teams got into a fight after the match when Kane showed up to join the fight. Kane knocked down both Dudleys, X-Pac and Dogg with punches. They Dudleys came back with a 3D on Kane. Tori stood over top of Kane and did crotch chops to him. Kane grabbed her by the throat, the crowd went wild and X-Pac hit Kane with a low blow. That led to X-Pac and Dogg launching Kane over the top and crashing through the table that was set up outside the ring.

Analysis: It was an angle that was done to build to the X-Pac/Dogg vs. Kane/Rikishi match at WrestleMania. No sign of Rikishi to try to help his partner.

Big Show and Shane McMahon were shown walking backstage for the main event.

(Commercial)

There was a replay of the key moments from the opening angel from this show.

The intros took place for the main event. Triple H was up first in a referee shirt with Stephanie McMahon. This fan has found a place for Stephanie.

The intros continued with Mick Foley in a referee shirt as the second referee in this main event match. Big Show and Shane McMahon were next as they walked out to the Aggression CD version of Show’s song. Vince McMahon was up next to a big pop. That would change in a week if you know remember how WrestleMania ended. Triple H tossed Vince into the ring to start the match before Rock could get out there. Shane hit a Bronco Buster on Vince. The Rock ran down to the ring to start the match.

The Rock and Vince McMahon vs. Big Show and Shane McMahon (Triple and Mick Foley are referees)

Pre-match notes: Rock and Vince were faces while Show and Shane were heels.

Rock dumped Shane out of the ring. Show worked over Rock by standing on his chest. Rock and Show left the ring, Show tossed Rock into the steel steps and then tossed Rock into the ring. Shane tagged in with jumping elbow on Rock. Hunter did a fast count, so Foley got in his face. Shane slapped Rock in the face, so Rock unloaded with punches and Hunter blocked a Rock clothesline, so Shane knocked Rock down. Foley punched Shane in the face to make it fair. Hunter and Foley got into a shoving match. This crowd was standing and going crazy for all of this. Show with an elbow to the chest that didn’t connect at all, but Rock sold it anyway. When Rock got back up, Show hit him with a back elbow to the face. Show with a backbreaker on Rock as fans chanted “Big Show Sucks” at him. Show hit a leg drop on Rock. When Rock tried to get going with punches, Show hit a powerslam for two with Foley doing the count. Shane tagged in and was met by a Rock DDT. Vince got the tag to a big pop as he punched Shane twice while Linda was shown watching on a TV backstage. Vince with a clothesline on Shane followed by a punch that knocked Shane out of the ring. Vince whipped Shane into the steel steps. Vince wit ha clothesline on Shane on the announce table. Vince choked Shane with a microphone cord around the throat. Vince decked Shane with another clothesline. Shane managed to send Vince back into the ring, but Vince hit him with a Spear. Show hit a headbutt on Vince. Rock got the hot tag from Vince and the crowd got even louder. Rock hit the Spinebuster on Shane and the People’s Elbow connected for Rock on Shane, but when Mick Foley did the count, Triple H dropped an elbow on Foley’s back to stop the count. Hunter followed up with a Pedigree on Rock and Shane covered as Hunter counted, but Vince attacked Hunter. Vince got back up, punch to the face and Hunter did a ridiculous bump out of the ring to the floor! Vince did crotch chops to Hunter. Show grabbed Vince by the throat, Foley put the Mandible Claw on Show to send him out of the ring and Rock hit a Rock Bottom on Shane with Foley counting the three count. The crowd popped huge for that finish. It went 11:12.

Winners by pinfall: The Rock and Vince McMahon

Analysis: *** It wasn’t the best match in terms of technical wrestling, but it was so entertaining with a very hot crowd that was into everything that they were doing. The crowd loved Rock of course, but the pops for Vince were as strong as ever for Vince as a face. Shane and Show worked well as a heel team while Rock was absolutely on fire as usual in this era. The booking of the referees Foley and Hunter was well done because they got into it physically, but it didn’t take away from the match. I thought the last two minutes were exceptional in terms of how they set up the finish. It was great.

After the match, the trio of Rock, Vince and Foley celebrated in the ring to end the show.

Analysis: After this show, regardless of what happened on Smackdown, I thought that Rock was going to win the WWF Title at WrestleMania. I’ll get into it more when I re-post the WrestleMania review, but it just seemed like the right thing to do.

This episode had a run time of 1:45:30 on WWE Network. That run time is 10 minutes longer than last week’s Raw because there were about ten minutes of extra footage with some post-show fun.

Extra Attitude Recap

Shane was left alone in the ring with Rock, Foley and Vince. There were no announcers for this since this was off the air. Foley hit a double arm DDT on Shane and Rock was going to do the People’s Elbow, but they told Vince to do it. Vince faced the camera and did his own version of the People’s Elbow on Shane. Foley did his version of the People’s Elbow to Shane as well. Foley and Vince left, but Rock stuck around. Rock gave the people what they wanted with a People’s Elbow on Shane.

The Rock did a promo saying finally The Rock has come back to Houston. Rock talked about how they served up pie while specifying that it wasn’t apple pie, blueberry pie, it was poontang pie. Rock said he took that piece of pie, shoved it sideways and shoved it straight up Shane’s candy ass. Rock noted that his book “The Rock Says” went number one in record time, so he thanked the people for that. Rock did his “if you smell…” line and then he stopped as the people finished it. Shane was getting back up to his feet, so Rock said that everything is cool and the show is over. Shane said “I’m sorry.” Shane claimed that Rock broke his shoulder. Rock accepted his apology, shook his hand and hit a Rock Bottom. Rock finished the promo: “If ya smell what The Rock is cooking…” and that was that. Rock celebrated to end the night.

Analysis: It was a fun ass kicking along with a Rock promo where he delivered his catchphrases. The fans loved it. I enjoyed it as well. Some of the “Extra Attitude” segments are a lot of fun, especially when Steve Austin and beer drinking was involved.

Three Stars of the Show

The Rock

Vince McMahon

Shane McMahon

The Scoreboard

This Raw episode gets a 5 out of 10.

It’s a tough show to rate because so much of it felt rushed with short matches and run-ins all night long. There five matches that went around two minutes or less. That’s too many short matches that meant nothing at all.

The main event was done well, so at least they ended on a strong note. Is it a surprise that the McMahons were all over the show and none of their segments were rushed? Of course not. They always get time to get their angles over. I thought Rock, Vince and Shane were all great from the promos to the match while the others did well too.

As a final Raw before WrestleMania, they did push the WM matches hard, but the lineup for that show was also hurt by too many matches, especially tag team matches.

]]>The mid-1990s were not a great period for the WWF in terms of business, but the rise in the late 1990s was coming. I like to think of this period as the transition years when they were building up new stars, trying a lot of weird shit and getting their asses kicked by WCW at the same time. There were some all-time great performers leading the way like Bret Hart, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, the British Bulldog and Owen Hart to name a few.

The announcers are Vince McMahon and Ted Dibiase, who are not a great announcing duo. Dibiase didn’t do that much announcing as far as I can remember. They had The Fink explain the rules. The entry time this year was 90 seconds for each competitor instead of the usual 2 minutes per entry. I like the 90 second entries better anyway.

It’s Scott Steiner at #1 and Samu at #2. Steiner was a lot smaller here than he was in his WCW run that would happen in the late 90s. He was also a very good worker who could move and bump well. I was always a huge Scott Steiner fan. Both of these guys were part of tag teams. There was an awesome butterfly suplex by Steiner. Nice clothesline by Samu. The clock has a sponsor this year; it’s Casio. Way to cash in on the clock, Vince. Rick Steiner is #3 as the crowd barks like a dog for the Dog Faced Gremlin. Belly to belly by Rick. They try to eliminate Samu, but it’s not really effective. Samu charges in, the Steiners both duck and Samu hangs himself on the top rope. His head gets stuck! That was not on purpose. He gets out, then Scott shoves him in the chest and he’s eliminated. The Steiners wait for #4 to get there. It’s Kwang, who we would later know as Savio Vega. He’s got a mask on here. Vince must have thought this was a great gimmick. It was not. #5 is Owen Hart, who is now a heel after turning on brother Bret when they tagged earlier in the night. They lost the tag title match due to Bret’s injured knee. He goes for Rick Steiner right away and they pair off. Vince tries to sell excitement, but it’s not that thrilling. Owen manages to lift Rick Steiner up and out. Wow, one of those slow eliminations worked? Those never work!

The #6 man is Bart Gunn of the Smoking Gunns tag team. This was early in the Smoking Gunns tag team era. Not a whole lot goes on during this 90 second period. We have a threat to win at #7, Diesel aka Kevin Nash. He would get the big push later in the year, holding the WWF Title. Diesel eliminates Bart Gunn and Scott Steiner rather quickly. He throws out Owen Hart too. Kwang misses a kick, so Diesel clotheslines him out. He’s all alone in the ring. It’s Bob Backlund at #8, who lasted the longest in the previous year’s Rumble. He has a lot of energy, but he can’t get him out. Diesel turns it around and eliminates Backlund in about 45 seconds to remain the only man in the ring. He’s alone for a while again as #9 is an Ass Man, Billy Gunn. With a terrible mustache and long hair too. Diesel with a big boot and he tosses Billy out in 14 seconds. Backstage, they show Lex Luger getting beat up by The Great Kabuki and Genichiro Tenryu because Luger’s the American hero and they’re Japanese, so of course they hate him. That’s vintage foreigner booking. The #10 competitor is Virgil, who Dibiase doesn’t like of course. Diesel hits him with some big forearms and there goes Virgil over to the top to the floor.

The #11 spot goes to Randy Savage, who would be wrestling in his last Rumble here. He gets a huge babyface pop from the crowd. Savage actually takes control and beats him down to his knees, but he can’t get him out of there. The Casio clock brings us to #12 “Double J” Jeff Jarrett. It’s J-E-Double F J-A-Double R-E- Double T. He wants to use the WWF as a stepping stone to Nashville, Vince tells us. Yes folks, that was his gimmick. He gets a punch off the top rope on Savage and he follows it with a strut. He tries to toss Randy out, but Savage knees him in the back and he throws Jarrett out of there. The #13 entrant is Crush, who would be the WrestleMania opponent of Savage. He hits the elbow on Crush and hits his vintage double axehandle off the top rope and he hits another just for the hell of it. Crush comes back with a backbreaker and the heels double team Savage. Huge pop for #14, Doink the Clown with Dink. Crush dumps Savage out rather easily. That was pretty surprising. Doink sprays water into the eyes of Crush and Diesel. It’s Bam Bam Bigelow with Luna at #15, who was a heel. Vince says he’s got a tremendous history with Doink. I remember a feud. I don’t know that any of it was tremendous. Bigelow press slams Doink and launches him over the top. Diesel & Crush try to get Bigelow out, but that didn’t work.

There’s a threat to win at #16, Mabel of Men on a Mission. You might also know him as Viscera. The crowd starts chanting “Whoomp there it is” because Men on a Mission were babyface hip hop stars. He takes care of all three heels, squashing them each in turnbuckles. There’s “Sparky Plugg” Bob Holly at #17. It’s his debut in the WWF, says Vince. He ended up lasting there well over a decade. Who knew, right? Crush avoids an elimination. It’s Shawn Michaels at #18. He was the heel Intercontinental Champion here. Diesel was his bodyguard. Diesel teases attacking him and they shake hands. Bigelow, Crush and Mabel push Diesel out. Vince claims that Shawn pushed him out too. It’s Mo from Men on a Mission at #19, who is a short fat man, which doesn’t make him a threat. Michaels nearly gets eliminated a couple of times, but he skins the cat back in. Why? Because he can. It’s Greg “The Hammer” Valentine at #20. He’s near the end of his career here. His long blonde hair is looking lovely at least. Congrats for that, Hammer. Nothing happens during this period.

We have Tatanka at #21. He was a midcard babyface. Michaels does some ridiculous spin bumps after receiving a punch. Poor Mabel looks so tired after ten minutes of being in the ring and barely moving. Don’t worry, though, because he’s a threat to win. Michaels is able to avoid elimination again. We’ve got 8 guys in the ring at the moment. It’s The Great Kabuki at #22. I had no memory of him at all, so I looked him up and saw this was the only match he ever had in the WWF. It was a sign that the WWF’s roster was really thin at this point, so they had to call in random people. Everybody gangs up on Mabel…except Mo. And there goes Mabel. He’s eliminated. Michaels hangs on while two guys try to get rid of him. A big pop for Lex Luger at #23, who comes running out even though he was shown getting attacked earlier. Shouldn’t he come out limping a little? He immediately goes after one of his attackers, Kabuki. He eliminates him. Luger’s offense is all clotheslines, punches and double axehandles. I was never a huge Luger fan. A year earlier he was The Narcissist. Then Vince wanted to make him his new Hogan, so here he was as the American hero. It’s Tenryu at #24. Barely any reaction for him, but Vince tells us he’ll be ready. He chops away at Luger in the corner. We don’t get #25 right away as the announcers theorize that it’s Bret Hart, who injured his knee earlier in the show. It turns out that Bastion Booger was supposed to be in that spot and according to the Wiki page Vince said he didn’t show up because he was sick. That’s a shame because Booger had all the THREAT TO WIN qualities that I love.

We’re down to the final five with Rick Martel at #26. There are 10 men in there. Not much is going on again. There’s a slight delay at #27 as Bret Hart limps his way down to ringside. That’s how you sell an injury. He’s selling that knee injury big time. I love it. He had already been the WWF Champion in late 1992 and into early 1993, so he was arguably the most popular babyface on the roster. It’s Fatu as a Headshrinker at #28. You might know him as Rikishi. We’ve got 12 guys in there. Luger tries to get rid of Crush, but he hangs on. Bret spends much of the match lying on his back as everybody goes after his knee. Crush eventually falls as Bret helps them out. It’s Marty Jannetty at #29, he’s a babyface that goes after Michaels. They brawl like crazy and the crowd goes wild. In a weird move, they cut backstage to talk to Crush while the match is going on. Randy Savage comes out of nowhere and they brawl. That was odd. It did set up a WrestleMania X match, but why cut away from the ring for that? Then they have “technical difficulties” and cut back to the ring. That was silly. There’s Adam Bomb at #30, who Vince thinks is going to win the match. Of course he does. This is by far the most crowded Rumble after the last participant. I believe it was 11 people.

Bret Hart dumps Sparky Plugg out of there. Vince mentions Booger didn’t come out because he was sick. You can tell Vince had high hopes for Adam Bomb, but he never really took off. I liked him as a kid for some reason. He was below average, though. Martel eliminates Valentine slowly. Tatanka ducks and Martel gets eliminated. Adam Bomb charges Luger, Lex ducks and there goes The Bomb man. Mo got tossed out and Bam Bam throws Bigelow over the top to the floor. We’re down to 7 men. Bigelow charges at Luger, does the upside down Flair corner bump and Luger clotheslines him out. Michaels flips Jannetty out although they didn’t really get a good shot of it. Down to five. Tenryu does a noggin knocker on Michaels & Fatu, but only Michaels goes down because Samoans have ridiculously strong heads. That’s a fact in wrestling. Luger and Hart work together to eliminate Tenryu.

The final four are Michaels, Luger, Hart and Fatu.

They all go to separate corners. I pick Fatu to win. He did it for The Rock. Wait, we’re six years early for that. Michaels works with Hart. Luger slams Fatu’s head, he no sells and kicks Luger down. Hart’s doing a great job of selling the left knee. He’s barely been able to stand the whole match. Luger hits a big clothesline on Fatu. He didn’t sell the beating from earlier in the show. No ill effects at all. Bret whips Shawn, Lex whips Fatu, Shawn leapfrogs him and Lex throws Shawn out while Bret throws Fatu out. That’s the best elimination right there. Really cool spot. The two biggest babyfaces face off, realizing they’re the final two. The crowd’s going nuts. Luger picks Bret up for a slam. Bret fights him off, they tumble into the ropes, they go over the ropes and they touch at the same time!

At first, they announce Lex Luger as the winner. Then they change it to Bret Hart. Neither ref was around to see the guys fall. The WWF President Jack Tunney shows up to try to calm down both guys. They show some different angles. Vince & Dibiase each think it’s one guy, so they bicker about it. The Fink: “The winner of the 1994 WWF Royal Rumble…” and he pauses, going to Tunney. He continues: “The winner of the 1994 WWF Royal Rumble…the winners are Lex Luger and Bret Hitman Hart.” Then they play the “WrestleMania” song.

Winner(s): Bret Hart & Lex Luger

The match ended at 55:08.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– I never liked the finish. However, they pushed Luger hard for the second half of 1993 and had to give him a win. Then they must have realized he wasn’t very good, so they put Bret in there and gave him the belt at WM10. In the end, it worked out because we got that awesome Bret-Owen match to lead off WM10.

– I wrote during the 1993 Rumble that it might have been the worst roster the WWF ever had. This one might have topped it. I know the next two or three years aren’t great either. The mid-90s were rough, fella!

– Owen Hart should have been in there longer. It would have been cool to see him go after Bret with the Hitman hurt. They did a good job of saving the first match for WM, but I would have liked to see a tease here. Maybe Bret doesn’t want to fight him, so Owen charges, Bret ducks and Owen goes flying out of the ring? It would have earned a huge pop too.

– Shawn Michaels was a bumping machine a year away from being the true star of this match.

– I really missed The Berzerker and Repo Man in this one. They are my favorite 90s jobbers.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: Bam Bam Bigelow at 30:12.

Most Eliminations: Diesel with 7.

Best Performers (3): Bret Hart – He might be the best ever in terms of selling injuries. He always so believable at it.

Shawn Michaels – His athleticism was second to none.

Diesel – I have not always been a big fan of his, but those spots with the eliminations were awesome.

Best Elimination: The double elimination of Michaels & Fatu.

Match Rating: *** It was a good Rumble. Not great at any point, but very solid throughout. The finish was different than what we’re used to.

—-

This would be a historic Rumble due to the fact that there would only be 60 seconds between entries. I’m not sure why they did that although maybe Vince realized his roster sucked so much that he didn’t want all these bad wrestlers in there for nearly an hour? I’ll go with that reason. Now let’s get to the match.

WWF Royal RumbleJanuary 22, 1995Tampa, Florida

The announcers are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler. The King would be in that chair for many Rumbles going forward and he was a very good heel announcer, second only to Bobby Heenan for me. They’ve got Pamela Anderson at ringside because she was going to appear at WrestleMania as well. This was in the middle of her Baywatch run. She is Canada’s greatest export. You’re welcome, world.

The #1 entrant is Shawn Michaels, who is a heel here. The British Bulldog is #2 and he’s a babyface rocking the dreadlocks. He takes control over Michaels early. Shawn does a flip bump in the corner. Vince calls it the fastest Rumble ever. It’s Eli Blue at #3. The crowd doesn’t react at all. Not a lot happens and we’re onto #4 Duke “The Dumpster” Droese. Vince marks out for him, making garbage references. Yep, he loves this gimmick too. He slams Michaels and gives him a bearhug because trying to eliminate the guy would be intelligent. Vince is overselling everything. It’s Jimmy Del Ray of the Heavenly Bodies at #5, who is a heel. Michaels sells a punch by going to the top, but he hangs on.

This really is a fast Rumble as #6 comes out, Sionne. It’s the guy that used to be The Barbarian. I barely remember him as Sionne. It was not a long lasting gimmick as part of the Headshrinkers for him. The Bulldog eliminates Jimmy Del Ray. We’re already onto #7, Tom Pritchard of the Heavenly Bodies. The crowd freaks out as Michaels nearly gets eliminated again. It’s about the only time the crowd wakes up. It’s Doink…with Dink…The Clown at #8. He gets a big babyface pop. I’m not joking. They love him. Time for #9, Kwang. I’m shocked that he made it into two Rumbles since it was such a terrible gimmick. Like I wrote in 1994, we’d later know Kwang as Savio Vega. We’ve got 8 people in there as The Model Rick Martel enters at #10. Vince points out that this is Martel’s 7th Rumble, the most all time. There are 9 guys in the ring and nobody’s really doing anything in terms of action. It’s fast paced, but there’s nothing happening.

We’ve got Owen Hart at #11, who was a top heel. As he’s walking down to the ring, Bret Hart attacks him in the aisle due to Owen’s actions earlier in the night that cost Bret the WWF title. Officials break it up. Bret walks away as the clock run downs for our #12 entrant Timothy Well from that awful tag team Well Dunn. Owen got tossed out by Bulldog although we never saw it. Then there are a bunch of fast eliminations as Well, Droese, Martel and Pritchard all get eliminated in succession. We’re down to 6 guys in the ring. It’s now 5 as Doink gets kicked out of there. Eli Blue and Sionne take eachother out. They emptied the ring right there. Bushwacker Luke comes out at #13 and Michaels threw him out quickly. We’re down to Michaels & Bulldog again. Then we get Jacob Blue at #14, he charges Michaels like a dumbass, Shawn ducks and there goes Jacob. We’re back to two guys again. That rapid elimination was good for getting rid of some of the marginal talent. Bulldog gets close to eliminating Michaels, but of course, Shawn hangs on. Here’s a threat to win at #15…King Kong Bundy. Now they show a clip of Bulldog backdropping Owen out earlier in the match.

The #16 competitor is Mo of Men on a Mission. He’s eliminated in 3 seconds by King Kong Bundy. Bulldog tries to slam Bundy. He can’t do it, though. Back when I was a 15 year old watching this I wondered can we get a shot of Pamela Anderson? More MOM time as Mabel enters at #17. He does a big man confrontation with Bundy. Vince loves it, of course. Bundy avoids elimination from Mabel. Eventually, he falls. It’s Butch of the Bushwhackers at #18. Michaels throws out Butch. Luke lasted 12 seconds and Butch lasted 19 seconds. Bulldog and Mabel double team Michaels while Lawler says if Michaels gets tossed out then Mabel is his pick to win. Lex Luger comes out as Captain America at #19. He throws Mabel out. Now Lawler picks Luger. It’s a running joke with Lawler. Wow, we’ve got one of the worst gimmicks ever Mantaur at #20. He’s a fat dude weighing 400 pounds. Does Vince love him? Of course.

It’s time for another terrible gimmick at #21…Aldo Montoya! You might know him as Justin Credible. It’s amazing how you can have two of the worst gimmicks ever back to back like that. Vince says we’ve got a favorite at #22 Henry Godwinn. You think I’m the one that makes threat to win jokes? It’s because of the ridiculous claims by the announcers every year. There we go, a shot of Pamela Anderson! I googled it and she was 28 years old here. She’s ridiculously hot. It’s Billy Gunn at #23, part of the Smoking Gunns. They’re babyfaces. There’s Bart Gunn in the #24 spot. We’ve got two bad mustaches in there now. It’s Mr. Bob Backlund at #25. This time he’s a heel, doing the gimmick where he snaps. There’s Bret Hart in the ring to attack Backlund. This would set up a WrestleMania match with them.

We’re onto the final 5 competitors with #26 Steven Dunn of that awful Well Dunn tag team I mentioned. Backlund gets into the ring and Luger clotheslines him out rather easily. Lawler complains about Bret taking out Owen & Backlund. With Backlund out of the match, Bret goes after him again. There’s Dick Murdoch at #27, who was a veteran heel here. Mantaur’s still in there! So is Aldo! Wow. They are my picks to win. It’s Adam Bomb at #28, who gets a decent babyface pop. There’s Fatu (Rikishi) at #29. He goes after Billy Gunn, but he hangs on. Luger tosses out Mantaur. There goes Mantaur’s boyhood dream. The #30 entrant is Crush, who is Lawler’s new pick. He dumps out Billy & Bart Gunn.

There’s a nice shot of Pamela Anderson’s legs. More please. Aldo eliminates Steven Dunn before that. I was distracted. There are 9 guys left as Lawler picks Michaels, Crush & Luger. Vince says last year was the only time two men won the Rumble and he would suggest that’s the only time it would happen. It’s like he can script this thing or something! And if it happens again he’ll tear his quad in the ring after it happens. I added that part in. I can see into the future. Michaels nearly gets tossed out again. There’s a headbutting contest with Murdoch and Fatu, which Fatu wins. Samoans don’t feel headbutts. Crush eliminates Adam Bomb. They’d form the team Kronik in WCW (and even in the WWF during the Invasion angle) years later. Michaels throws out Montoya. Murdoch goes to eliminate Michaels. Crush eliminates Fatu leaving us with six. Michaels is so great that he walked into Murdoch giving Godwinn the airplane spin and took a bump by running into Godwinn’s feet. Murdoch gets eliminated by Godwinn as they spill into the ropes. We’re down to five men. Luger sure loves throwing clotheslines doesn’t he? Godwinn charges him, Luger ducks and eliminates him with a backdrop.

Final Four: Luger, Michaels, Bulldog and Crush.

At least you’ve got three borderline main eventers plus Crush, who was an upper midcarder during this era despite having consistently awful matches. Crush and Michaels work on Luger. Lex fights them off and starts punching Crush in the corner. He gets on the middle ropes and punches Crush, so Michaels sneaks up behind and hits him in the back to eliminate Luger. Michaels tells Crush they should work together to rid of Bulldog. They attack Bulldog with a double clothesline. Crush’s hairstyle is awful. He turns on Michaels, press slamming him. Michaels escapes that, Bulldog charges in and eliminates Crush with a clothesline. We’re down to the final two being the same two guys that started: Michaels and Bulldog. There goes Michaels with some near eliminations. Press slam and HBK gets crotched. Bulldog hits a clothesline, you can see Michaels right hand already between the top and middle rope. He uses it to hang on and he puts his left hand on the middle rope. Then he does the dangling that was so famous. Vince declares Bulldog the winner and his music starts playing. He climbs the ropes, Michaels comes back in and hits a double axe to the back, knocking him out. The ref raises Michaels hand as the announcers are shocked.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

The match ended at 38:41.

The Fink gets on the microphone to announce that only one of Michaels’ feet hit the floor. They showed a replay of it. It was a well done finish and they had the cameras in place for it. His right foot touched the ground, but never both feet at the same time. Refs Earl Hebner and Tim White were there to see it. After it’s over, Anderson goes in the ring with Michaels. I don’t think she enjoyed it too much. She did show up at WrestleMania, though, and so did Jenny McCarthy. The teenage John Canton loved both of them.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– This one wins the award for worst star power ever. It’s brutal to see how many bad gimmicks are in there.

– I truly enjoyed the finish. They did an awesome job of making it appear as though Bulldog won, even playing his music and Vince overselling it. I’m sure Michaels practiced that spot where he hangs on because he really did a masterful job of it.

– Michaels was head and shoulders above everybody else in this match. The only one in this match close to him was Owen Hart, but he didn’t have a major role in it. Bulldog was solid, but too inconsistent for me.

– The match needed Owen’s talents to help carry it because he was one of the better workers in the company. I do understand why they had the Bret interference, though. It fits with the story. It’s just that Owen would have made it better.

– The unintentional comedy of Vince saying there will never be another tie winner for the Rumble was great. You know he regretted that finish from the 1994 Rumble.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: Shawn Michaels and British Bulldog at 38:41.

Most Eliminations: Shawn Michaels with 8.

Best Performers (3): Shawn Michaels – The obvious best performer. Not even close.

British Bulldog – He did well. Had some good power spots.

Lex Luger – He sure loves the clothesline.

Best Elimination: Michaels eliminating Bulldog was a great finish.

Match Rating: **3/4 It was very average although Michaels & Bulldog had their working boots on to try to make it a respectable Rumble.

—

It’s 1996 and the World Wrestling Federation is coming off one of the worst years in the history of their company. This year wouldn’t be that much better in terms of money, but they were starting to build a better roster.

This was the year when future main eventers like Steve Austin and Triple H made their Rumble debuts while Shawn Michaels was in position to get that big babyface push after years of being a heel. We also saw a guy named Rocky Maivia and another named Mankind show up later in the year. All of that means things were getting better for the WWF. There are still a lot of bad gimmicks in this Rumble, though, so be warned because some of the names might scare you.

WWF Royal RumbleJanuary 21, 1996Fresno, California

The announcers are Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect, who was just okay as an announcer. Perfect picks Vader to win since he’s one of the biggest and strongest. The first entrant is Hunter Hearst Helmsley due to losing a match to Duke The Dumpster Droese in the Free For All match before the show. Droese gets the #30 spot. It would be the first Rumble where we’d get the wrestlers music on their way to the ring. We’re back to 2 minute intervals after the 1995 Rumble had 1 minute intervals.

We’ve got Hunter at #1 and his rival at the time, Henry O. Godwinn at #2. Of course, Hunter’s the snobby rich heel while Godwinn’s the babyface. There’s not a whole lot going on with these two. At #3 is the heel Bob Backlund with the “Hail to the Chief” theme song. I loved how crazy Backlund was at this point in his career. It was hilarious. Mr. Perfect tries to theorize that Backlund’s from Princeton University because he’s from Princeton, MN. Not exactly the same thing. Backlund gets close to eliminating Hunter, but he can’t do it. There’s Jerry Lawler at #4, who of course is a heel like usual. There’s a “Burger King” chant for Lawler, who gets Godwinn’s slop bucket. Lawler tries to slop him, but he can’t and all three heels bail to the floor and Godwinn dumps the slop onto Lawler. There’s a “Vince 4 Prez” sign in the crowd. It’s Bob Holly at #5, “start your engines” says Vince. What a brutal gimmick Sparky Plugg was. Not a lot happening.

At #6 is King Mabel, who was no longer a rapper. He was a heel here, after winning King of the Ring the year before and having one of the worst PPV main event matches ever versus Diesel at Summerslam 1995. Vince marks out for Mabel’s size. It’s Jake Roberts as a babyface at #7. This was his comeback attempt. He takes out the snake. It’s huge. Everybody bails. He puts the snake on Lawler, who freaks out. An attendant takes the snake away. We’ve had no eliminations to this point. Lawler’s still outside the ring while the other six guys go at it in the ring. There’s Dory Funk at #8. I looked it up and he’s 55 years old at this point. The roster was really thin in these days considering Vince had to call in Dory. That’s not a disrespect thing. It’s just that he’s not exactly spry at this point in his career. The crowd chants DDT. The camera shows Lawler hiding under the ring. It’s Yokozuna at #9. He’s a heel former WWF Champion. He throws Bob Backlund out rather quickly. Mabel splashes Yoko and Godwinn in the corner at the same time. Then he splashes Godwinn on the ground just for fun. Poor Godwinn. It’s the 1-2-3 Kid at #10, who you might know as X-Pac or Sean Waltman. Razor Ramon chases him because Kid cost him his IC title match earlier in the show. Kid’s too fast for Ramon, so he never gets his hands on him. Then they went out and got shitfaced after the match.

The #11 entrant is “the Wildman from Japan” Omori as Vince calls him. I don’t remember this guy at all. There’s really nothing happening in this match. Lawler’s still under the ring. Roberts got Yoko down, which drew a pop. Here’s Savio Vega at #12, looking happy that he doesn’t have to be Kwang anymore. He takes Mabel down. Yoko dumps Mabel out. Omori gets eliminated by Roberts. Here’s a big threat to win at #13 Vader, who was making his WWF debut after they promoted him hard. I’m not joking about him being a threat. He was fresh in the WWF at this point because they signed him from WCW where he was a World Champion. He’s managed by Jim Cornette. Vega dumps out Funk. Vader hammers Vega with fists. I loved Vader’s punches. He was always a favorite of mine because he was believable as a badass big man wrestler. They never booked him perfectly in the WWF, though. It’s Doug Gilbert at #14!! I told you the roster was really thin. Roberts hits a DDT on Vega, but the camera doesn’t even show it. The crowd popped huge. Vader knocks out Roberts with a clothesline. There’s still no Lawler in the ring. He’s under the ring, we guess. It’s one of the Squat Team guys at #15. Who? Vince says he’s making his debut. He’s a very fat black man with face paint. He’s no Kamala, that’s for sure. You might know the Squat Team from ECW where they were known as The Headhunters. Vader hits a stiff chokeslam on Gilbert and then throws him out easily. Vader throws out the Squat team dude. In ring we’ve got six guys, plus Lawler out on the floor.

There’s the other Squat Team guy at #16. They’re identical twins, Vince tells us. They both get in the ring, going right at Vader. He fights them off with fists. He clotheslines him out of the ring. Yoko threw out a Squat Team guy. Yoko looks VERY tired. There’s Owen Hart at #17. He’ll be the best worker in the match as soon as he gets in there. Man, Yoko looks to be in really bad shape. He looks so tired just standing on the ropes. Vader whipped Yoko into Vega and then Vader splashed Vega in the corner too. Vader splashes Vega and Yoko legdrops him. Here’s Shawn Michaels at #18 to a huge pop. He’s a babyface here, coming back from the concussion storyline and the “Tell Me a Lie” video. Vader throws out Savio. Yoko starts brawling with Vader, which makes Jim Cornette angry because he manages both guys. The two big guys are teetering against the ropes, so Michaels grabs their legs and flips them out. Huge pop for that. Michaels eliminates Kid. There’s Hakushi at #19, who is a heel. Vader is pissed off, so he decks Yoko and goes back in the ring. He beats the hell out of Michaels. He press slams Michaels and throws him over the top to the floor. He does the same to Owen, Holly and HHH. In past (and future) Rumbles if a guy that got eliminated went back in the ring they were still able to eliminate people. In this case, it was an angle to put over how dominant Vader was. They toss Vader out of the ringside area. That was really well done in terms of establishing as a new force in the WWF. Michaels flips Cornette over the top and we’ve got #20 Tatanka. There are six guys in the ring, plus Jerry Lawler also in the match. HHH is close to eliminating Michaels. I wonder if those two would have good careers. They look like they have potential. Owen eliminates Hakushi.

Cue the terrible music as #21 Aldo Montoya (Justin Credible) enters. Perfect: “He’s got his jock on the wrong part of his body.” Vince: “I don’t think so.” I guess Vince loved the gimmick. He’s the only one. The mask looks like a jock. Michaels takes a walk around the ring looking for Jerry Lawler. He finds him. No Hornswoggle yet, folks. He throws Lawler back in. Tatanka eliminates Montoya and Michaels throws Lawler out. Here’s a threat at #22, Diesel aka Kevin Nash. He throws out Tatanka right away. He was the World Champ for most of 1995. He would leave for WCW four months after this. He decks Michaels with a punch because he was turning heel around this time although as he entered here he was still a babyface. It’s the “Supreme Fighting Machine” Kama at #23. You might remember him from such gimmicks as Papa Shango, The Godfather and The Goodfather as well. There are six guys in the right now: Michaels, Holly, Diesel, Kama, Owen and HHH. They had Diesel “inadvertently” hit Michaels. It’s STONE COLD! STONE COLD! STONE COLD! at #24. I almost had a joygasm right there. No…sorry…it’s the “Ringmaster” Steve Austin. He’s a few months away from being Stone Cold. I’ll never understand why they gave him a mouthpiece like Ted Dibiase when he was always a strong talker. Thankfully he became Stone Cold soon after this. Austin eliminates Holly with a knee into the back. Barry Horowitz! Barry Horowitz! Barry Horowitz! The pat on the back! He’s in at #25 and his music in the “can-can” song. I love this man. For those that don’t know, Barry was a lifetime jobber who was in the WWF for a long time. They did an angle where he actually won a match and it got over pretty big. He also gave himself a pat on the back all the time. It was silly, but you had to love a lifelong jobber like Barry. Diesel launches HHH out. That was random. They had Triple H last the longest in the match at 48:01, but guess how many eliminations he officially had? Zero.

It’s Fatu (Rikishi) at #26 in his “man making a difference” gimmick. He was a babyface that was going to help the kids in the streets. It didn’t work very well. Barry Horowitz is still in there! “If Horowitz wins this match I quit,” says Perfect. He actually left soon after this for WCW! Owen tries to suplex Shawn out, but HBK hangs on. It’s KANE! No, Isaac Yankem at #27. The dentist music. Owen dumps out Horowitz. Yankem goes after Diesel, which is funny because after Diesel left they did a fake Diesel and he’s the one that played fake Diesel. Owen hits an enziguri to HBK and Shawn sells it like he’s hurt bad. It’s the same spot that hurt Michaels. They show a replay of that and while that happens Shawn & Diesel throw out Owen. Way to miss the elimination, director. Austin cheapshots Michaels and then he does the HBK flex pose. That was great. It’s Marty Jannetty, still coming out to the Rockers music, at #28. Michaels hangs on from a near elimination. Austin beats on Diesel and he taunts him too. Small pop for Michaels & Jannetty doing a double KO spot. It’s The British Bulldog at #29, who has the short hair here unlike the long hair from the year before when he was the runner up. He’s a heel now. Bulldog dumps out Jannetty. We’ve got 7 left. Yankem is still in there! Austin gets eliminated by Fatu although we never see it except in the background. It’s a preview of the angle where Rikishi runs him over in a car over 3 years later! Not exactly. Same two guys in different gimmicks, though. Perfect asks what happened to Ringmaster. Vince doesn’t know. Yankem eliminates Fatu. There are five men left with one more entrant, who is #30 Duke “The Dumpster” Droese. “Imagine that, a garbage man goes to WrestleMania to face the WWF Champion.” No Vince, nobody can imagine that. It’s a terrible gimmick. What the hell were you thinking?

Michaels and Bulldog go through the ropes. Owen Hart comes out to attack Michaels. This set up a match on the February PPV that was very good. Diesel saves Michaels from a Bulldog press slam and Michaels dropkicks Yankem out of the ring. Diesel and Kama eliminate Droese.

The final four are Diesel, Kama, Michaels and Bulldog.

They pair off, Michaels avoids an elimination from Bulldog, slides under the ropes and clotheslines him out. Kama clubs Michaels in the back, but Shawn skins the cat back in. What a sequence from HBK there. He’s too good. Diesel shoves Kama out. Diesel is standing by the ropes, he turns around and Michaels superkicks him to send Diesel over the top. He’s out.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

The match ended at 58:49.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– The lack of talent wasn’t very good here, but it was slightly ahead of the 1995 Rumble. Some of the guys were a major reach in terms of their inclusion in the match. You could tell they called some people in for one time appearances. That’s a sign of a ridiculously thin roster. It was not the best of times for the WWF. Things would get better, though.

– Much like the year before, Michaels’ talent is so far ahead of everybody else in this match. In the second half of his career the roster was much better. There’s no doubt about that. It makes me think about how good the first half of his career could have been with better opponents. He had a few, but not as many as you might think. This was his last Rumble appearance until 2003, by the way. See ya soon, HBK.

– They booked Vader really well. He was the star of the first half of the match. It would have been cool to see him last a little longer just because he’s a great talent, but I understand picking his spot with him. He’s one of the best big men wrestlers ever.

– Poor Yoko. In 1993 he was in pretty good shape for a guy his size. He was mobile and fresh. By this point he looked even bigger and was tired almost as soon as he got in the ring. He lasted another year or so, but he wasn’t the force he was during his initial push. And he would die four years after this.

– I think Barry Horowitz deserves a pat on the back for his performance.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: Hunter Hearst Helmsley at 48:01. He eliminated nobody!

Most Eliminations: Shawn Michaels with 8.

Best Performers (3): Shawn Michaels – Obvious choice.

Vader – Great debut for him.

Steve Austin – Because I’m biased and nobody else impressed me.

Best Elimination: Michaels dumping out Yokozuna and Vader at the same time was very impressive.

Match Rating: **1/4 It was not very exciting due to how obvious it was that Michaels was going to win.

—

Next up is the 1997 Royal Rumble, which had one of my famous endings ever, the 1998 Rumble may have been the most predictable Rumble match ever and the 1999 Rumble was not a favorite of mine.

]]>There were some three matches announced by WWE this afternoon with one of them set for Monday’s Raw and two for Smackdown.

The Raw match will see Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey team up with her good friend Natalya against the team of Sasha Banks and Bayley, who are known as the Boss N Hug Connection. Rousey will also face Banks at the Royal Rumble on January 27, which will be six days after Monday’s Raw on January 21.

Last week on Raw (you can read my review of it here), Rousey teamed with Banks to defeat the duo of Nia Jax and Tamina. Banks got the win for her team with a Bank Statement submission because she chose not to tag Rousey into the match when she had the chance to do so.

In order to build up fan interest in their Rumble match, Banks and Rousey have been engaged in social media trash talk, which seems to be a common thing for Rousey and whoever her challenger is.

This is a rematch from last week when Andrade (no longer “Cien” Almas) and Mysterio had a 20 minute classic with Andrade getting the win. I rated it ****1/4 out of five in my Smackdown Review, which is a pretty high rating for a TV match. Is it too soon for a rematch? Probably, but I’m not the kind of guy that will complain about amazing matches. I look forward to this 2/3 Falls match on Tuesday.

My guess is that Mysterio wins this match, which would set up another match between them.

The other announced Smackdown match is Samoa Joe vs. Mustafa Ali. They were going to have a match last week on Smackdown, but Joe attacked Ali, who took some great bumps going hard into the ring post multiple times. It’s a good rivalry to use Joe as the heel bully against the exciting “new” talent like Ali.

The Royal Rumble is eight days away, so next week’s Raw and Smackdown are the last shows before the Rumble PPV takes place, which means they are the “go home show” for WWE’s two main roster brands.

]]>https://tjrwrestling.net/wwe-news-ronda-rousey-in-tag-team-match-on-raw-andrade-vs-mysterio-2-3-falls-match-on-smackdown-more/feed/0The Rise of the Demon in WWE: Will 2019 be the Year of Finn Balor? – by Mike Sanchezhttps://tjrwrestling.net/the-rise-of-the-demon-in-wwe-will-2019-be-the-year-of-finn-balor-by-mike-sanchez/
https://tjrwrestling.net/the-rise-of-the-demon-in-wwe-will-2019-be-the-year-of-finn-balor-by-mike-sanchez/#respondSat, 19 Jan 2019 11:54:13 +0000https://tjrwrestling.net/?p=46071 […]

]]>I think it’s fair to say that Finn Balor’s WWE run has had more ups and downs than most of the roller coasters in the Floridian theme parks. The massive high of capturing the Universal Title in the first attempt (at SummerSlam 2016) to the depths of having to relinquish the belt less than 24 hours later due to an unfortunate shoulder injury. Finn relinquished that title on the 22nd August 2016 and as we approach almost two and a half years after that moment, only now is he (hopefully) being pushed back into that main event status he so deserves to be part of.

One can argue why they believe Balor hasn’t been put back in the title contender category in that space of time, but save for his awful injury, he just couldn’t force out the dominant Brock Lesnar, the office push of Roman Reigns or the spectacular rise of Braun Strowman. For me, I think he’s just been plain unlucky to have been pushed right to the top with those three stars right around the corner. Had he not been injured, I don’t think too much would have changed in that title picture. I think he may still have dropped down the pecking order in favor of Brock and the others.

That was then, and this is now. Roman is sadly sidelined for the foreseeable future, Brock looks like he’s off after April and Strowman has had chances to capture the gold, yet Vince McMahon doesn’t seem too keen on the idea for some reason. So, who does that leave to fight it out for the top spot? Seth Rollins continues to amaze and with Kevin Owens rehabilitating himself, and hopefully close to a return, perhaps this is the time for the non-beasts and ‘smaller’ guys to have their chance at leading the line for Monday Night Raw? In that case, Finn Balor could, no, must be part of it. So what to expect in the coming year, and why do I think that WWE has barely scratched the surface with Finn? Let’s take a look:

He has a connection with the WWE Universe – My son loves to watch Finn Balor on TV and will ask me to rewind Raw so he can copy his entrance by thrusting his arms into the air. Just this past week on Raw, you could see thousands of men, women and children all copy Balor as he makes his way to the ring. Balor’s size also gives him a vulnerability that you believe when he’s up against the odds. Many in the WWE tower over him and it gives his matches that extra impact by always portraying him as the underdog.

Whether it’s the ‘everyman’ aspect of his character – something that made Stone Cold Steve Austin so relatable to the fans – or his underdog attitude, Balor has a special connection with the audience that will always side with him in his quest for glory. Then there’s his public support for LGBT issues and his wearing of the rainbow colors to show his support to their cause. This shows the man himself, rather than the character, and though Balor isn’t alone in this in WWE or other forms of entertainment, it gives him yet another connection with the audience that many other sports don’t show on a regular basis unless it’s for a special event or recognized day. For example, the English Premier League (soccer, to those outside of the UK) support LGBT issues by promoting the wearing of Rainbow Laces over a two week period at the end of the year.

He has the Demon to fall back on – I’m happy that WWE hasn’t had Balor break out the makeup for a while now, as I think the Demon Balor gimmick is too good to be brought out each week. It’s a very special thing that should be kept hidden for as long as possible. Overexposure of it can lead to the dilution of its impact and that’s not a good thing. Sure, the scary, eerie look worked for The Undertaker for a long time, but he was special, plus if Balor did it week after week, it would lose its impact.

The demon look also plays against everything I’ve said above. It gives him a boost in his performance, changes his attitude and demeanor. The demon doesn’t smile and if WWE wants their babyfaces to have that connection with the fans, the smiles to the kids and the chatty media tours, the demon isn’t the way to do that. Should he never use it again? No way, but it should be saved for when the odds are really stacked against him or if the match on the horizon is on a massive stage and the time for games are over. Then, and only then, should the demon be released.

He has a heel side that has yet to be seen – I’ve always been a believer that to be a really popular face in WWE, you should start off (or have an early run) as a heel and make the face turn some years down the line. It worked out fine for Stone Cold, The Rock, Triple H and others, but the same can’t be said for Finn Balor just yet. Yes, I know he dabbled with his heelish side outside of WWE and before he arrived in NXT, but when it comes to the main roster, it’s something he’s yet to even slightly explore. I’m not calling for the heel turn at the Royal Rumble, but you have to think; there really is so much they haven’t even explored with him isn’t there? Perhaps that’s down to him just being that damn good that WWE sees no reason to alter his character? Perhaps he’s a solid, dependable hand that they trust with doing his best for the fans and the company?

Whatever the reason, he’s been on a steady course this last year and with his upcoming Universal Title match against Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble (which I think he’ll lose, but will elevate him even more) Finn Balor has risen up the card and perhaps, just perhaps, this is the moment when they can really pull the trigger on him and give him a long run in the main event. He can take his place right at the top of the card so he can once again capture the title that was so cruelly taken from him and lead WWE forward in a post-Lesnar era.

It’s time to believe in Finn Balor if you didn’t already. After all, John Cena believes in him too.

The announcers are Gorilla Monsoon and Roddy Piper. Every Rumble has had a different set of announcers so far. I’m a big fan of Monsoon, but Piper was just average as a color commentator. He wasn’t as good as Heenan (the best) or Ventura (very good). It’s the first year The Fink didn’t explain the rules. The announcers did it.

The #1 entrant was Bret Hart. This was the year where he’d start his singles career as a babyface, so it was a good chance to showcase him. In at #2 was Dino Bravo, managed by Dino Bravo. Bret nearly eliminated Bravo early on, but he was able to hold on. The #3 spot goes to Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, who used to be an associate of Jimmy Hart. Valentine eliminates Bravo rather easily and Jimmy Hart is pissed off, so the Hammer knocks him off the apron. Bret tries to eliminate Valentine as #4 comes in…Paul Roma. And the crowd goes mild. Roma never really got over very well in the WWF or WCW. “No friends, only foes” say the announcers over and over. The #5 man is the Texas Tornado, who was a very popular midcard babyface also known as Kerry Von Erich. He decks Valentine with the tornado punch. What are the odds that the Texas Tornado in 1991 could pass a WWE Wellness Policy test? 1%. He was always a very good performer, but drugs sidetracked him and ended his life early too.

Rick Martel comes in at #6. He’s a heel with his “Arrogance” perfume. He’s so mean he’ll spray perfume in your eyes. Or cologne. Take your pick. Roma and Martel work together on Hart and then Roma decks Martel with a clothesline. Piper loves it when the heels fight eachother. The #7 man is Saba Simba, who you might know as Tony Atlas. The announcers take their time saying his name because you know they want to say Atlas. The Saba Simba gimmick was not successful. Tornado almost eliminates Martel, but he hangs on. The Tornado puts the claw on Roma in the corner. The #8 entrant is Bushwhacker Butch. He goes around the ring doing the Bushwhacker dance. Simba picks up Roma, goes to eliminate him, but Roma escapes and Simba’s gone after just over 2 minutes of action. The crowd loves the Bushwhackers! You do too. It’s okay. You can start doing the Bushwhacker dance. Nobody’s watching you. To a big pop, #9 is Jake Roberts and he goes right after Rick Martell, who would be his WM7 opponent in a Blindfold Match. The crowd wants the DDT. He hits the short arm lefty clothesline, but Martel leaves the ring through the bottom ropes. Jake chases him back in. The #10 participant is Hercules, who was Roma’s partner in the heel tag team Power & Glory. There are a total of 8 guys in the ring as we are 1/3 of the way into this match.

The #11 participant is Tito Santana. While he’s coming out, Roma charges in at Jake, he ducks and Roma goes flying over the top to be the next elimination. Santana’s close to eliminating Martel, Valentine tries to get rid of Tito, but Bret saves him. It’s real talk time with #12, The Undertaker. His debut came a few months earlier at Survivor Series 1990 and he was a heel of course. He’s managed by Brother Love here. Double choke on Bret and Undertaker eliminates him. That looked painful, but very impressive. They should have had him eliminate a few guys right off the bat. He no sells everything from Texas Tornado. It’s Jimmy Snuka at #13. Undertaker eliminates Butch. The facial expressions on Undertaker are pretty awesome. I almost forget the character in its inception because it’s been so long. Everybody takes turns punching Undertaker, but he doesn’t go down. It’s Davey Boy Smith, the British Bulldog, at #14 and he’s a babyface at this point. With 9 guys in the ring there are too many people in there. By the way, Snuka’s wearing wrestling boots. That’s just wrong. He should always be barefoot. That’s what made me think he was tougher than most back when I was a kid. In at #15 is Smash from Demolition. Martel’s scaling the apron and he eliminates Jake. That was good setup for their WM7 match. Piper’s yelling a lot on commentary. Yelling isn’t necessarily good.

What a rush, it’s Hawk from Legion of Doom at #16. He can have a no selling contest with Undertaker. I don’t think Hawk ever liked selling moves. The #17 entrant is Shane Douglas, who I really don’t remember from WWE at this time. He’s an energetic young babyface here. Undertaker eliminates Tornado and Hawk eliminates Snuka. Apparently Douglas left the company soon after the Rumble to be with his ailing father. Undertaker’s eliminated three guys. It really should have been more by this point. Wow, what a sloppy exchange by Hawk and Hercules. “Here comes another one!” Piper is always so excited. For #18 we don’t get anybody. The deal was that since Randy Savage cost Warrior the WWF title earlier in the night he had to leave the arena to escape him and that’s why he never got in the match. The announcers eventually figured it out. The eye gouge is a very popular move in this match. In at #19 is Animal of Legion of Doom. Legion of Doom eliminate Undertaker with a double clothesline to a huge pop. Hawk gets eliminated by a sneak attack from Hercules & Martel. Undertaker went over the top and landed on his feet. The guy is a great athlete. No doubt about that. It’s Crush of Demolition in at #20. Martel leads the match in terms of threatening to be eliminated, but never actually going out of the ring. “Forget arrogance, he can be modeling endurance,” says Piper. Good line or no? I’m not sure. Nine guys in the match. Not a lot of star power, really.

We are down to the last ten entrants with #21 being “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. He comes out destroying everybody and the crowd loves him of course. HHHHHHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! And nobody gets eliminated. The booking here sucks. The crowd wants to get really amped up, but they never really give them a reason to. Here’s a BIG favorite at #22, Earthquake. He was in the Rumble a year before, but this year he was getting more of a push. He goes against Animal and backdrops him out of there. Now Quake goes after Hacksaw. Nobody else gets eliminated. Another favorite is at #23, Mr. Perfect. He’s managed by the great Bobby Heenan. He comes out very slowly unlike every other person in the match, who came out quickly. Wow, Brain caught his towel and it was behind him! First bump Perfect takes is a flip one in the corner. What a guy. He eliminates Duggan quickly. They do the time check on Valentine at 43 minutes and Martel at 40 minutes. The #24 spot is Hulk Hogan. Biggest pop of the night, of course. He goes nuts on Smash, tossing him out. He does the ten punch on Earthquake in the corner. Hogan gets double teamed and Earthquake squashes him in the corner. The camera doesn’t even show anybody else while Hogan is in there. Think he’s the biggest star? It’s Haku at #25 to no reaction whatsoever. Valentine is tossed out after 45 minutes. He barely made an impact, though. Earthquake tries to eliminate Bulldog, but that fails. They really don’t have anybody doing a bunch of eliminations at once. As a result you’ve got 10 guys in there again.

The final five entrants start with Jim Neidhart at #26. Great spot with Tito punching Quake a bunch, he no-sells it and chucks Tito out. I should add too that the more Rumbles you watch, the less hair Hogan has. Poor guy. There is not a lot going on, so have to give props to the managers outside the ring. I love managers. Especially this crew of them. Oh classic spot with #27 Bushwhacker Luke. He comes in doing the Bushwhacker walk, Quake grabs him, throws him out and he’s still doing the Bushwhacker walk. That was great! It’s Brian Knobbs at #28. Let’s hope he’s not in there long. Everybody beats him up. That’s pretty random. Martel keeps hanging on. Knobbs eliminates Hercules. The back body drop is a common elimination on this show. The Warlord is at #29. He goes after Bulldog because Vince must love their muscles. You can definitely tell this was when the steroid era was at its peak. Hogan eliminates Crush in a nasty fall near the turnbuckle. That’s why you do the eliminations away from the turnbuckle. Hogan eliminates Warlord with a clothesline. Reminiscent of a couple of years earlier when he eliminated him in 2 seconds. For the #30 spot it’s Tugboat, who is a THREAT TO WIN! The announcers realize Savage was #18 and he probably left because Warrior wanted to get revenge on him, which is what I mentioned earlier.

We have nine guys left and no more entrants. Shane Douglas got eliminated, by the way. Announcers put him over, so I guess they had high hopes for him. Didn’t happen for him in the WWF. Wow, Hogan does a near elimination spot. Not bad. It was Tugboat who tried to do it, so Hogan threw him out on the other side of the ring. Mr. Perfect got eliminated too. Martel dumps Neidhart. Bulldog backdrops Haku out. We’ve got five left. Martel slams Bulldog, then goes up top, Bulldog crotches him and clotheslines him out after nearly 53 minutes, which the new record.

Final four: Hogan, Earthquake, Bulldog & Knobbs.

Earthquake and Knobbs throw out Bulldog to make final three. I think Knobbs might be the worst wrestler to ever be in the final three. They work together with Quake doing the splash on Hogan. The crowd is dead silent. The heels celebrate, but Hogan pops up. Boot to Knobbs eliminates him. Punches on Quake, then the boot dazes him and Hogan punches him down. Then he knocks down Jimmy Hart. He calls for a bodyslam, but Quake falls on top of him. Big elbow. Gorilla talks like Hogan is done as Quake drops another elbow. Earthquake with a powerslam. Hogan Hulks Up. Stick the finger in the face, punch, punch, punch, big boot and another bodyslam works. Hogan slams him. Clothesline to the back and Earthquake is out.

Winner: Hulk Hogan

The match ended at 65:17.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– The booking was weak throughout. Every Rumble needs a moment where one guy throws out a bunch of people. This one didn’t have that moment and it definitely hurt the quality of the match. I do agree with Hogan winning it. He got the title shot after this.

– They didn’t make The Undertaker look strong enough. He should have eliminated 4 or 5 guys upon entry. I am glad that it took a tag team to throw him out, though. That makes him look strong.

– Why the hell was Knobbs booked into the final three? Seriously, Brian F’N Knobbs? That was just weird.

– They must have had high hopes for Martel because he was booked so strongly. His career never really went very far, though. He was always a midcard talent and though he lasted the longest here it was not a star making performance. I will honor him with a best performer nod only because nobody stood out.

– The star power was a lot worse here than it was in 1990 or what we’ll see next time in 1992.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: Rick Martel at 52:17.

Most Eliminations: Hulk Hogan with 7.

Best Performers (3): The Undertaker – He had such star power. He stood out from the pack. You could tell why he became the star that he became. Like I said he could have been booked even better.

Rick Martel – He was booked to be in there the longest and he did a great job with the false eliminations.

Hulk Hogan – Like I wrote in previous Rumbles his energy in this kind of match is welcome. I don’t mind him in Rumble matches.

Best Elimination: The Bushwhacker Luke elimination is legendary! The Bushwhacker walk in, the walk in the ring, then he gets tossed out and keeps walking. Hilarious! Classic.

Match Rating: **1/4

—

This is the Royal Rumble that many consider as the best ever. The World Wrestling Federation Title was up for grabs due to controversial results in title matches involving Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker. The winner of this match got to be champion with Hogan and Undertaker being promised spots anywhere from number 20 to 30. In terms of star power it was one of the most stacked Rumbles ever. It holds up well today too. I recommend this match to anybody that hasn’t seen it and even if you have seen it, go watch it again to remember how awesome it was.

WWF Royal RumbleJanuary 19, 1992Albany, New York

The announcers are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, who are the best announce pairing from this era. The Fink went over the rules here. For the first (and only) time, the WWF Title is on the line in this match. It makes this match even more important, which I love.

The #1 entrant is the British Bulldog, a babyface, and #2 is Ted Dibiase, a heel, who is managed by Sensational Sherri here. Dibiase dominated early, he went to throw Bulldog out, but then Bulldog hung on and then he clotheslined Dibiase out. That was about 90 seconds of Dibiase. Not enough of him. In at #3 is Ric Flair and Bobby Heenan goes “No! Damnit!” This was Flair’s first Rumble since he came to the WWF late in 1991. He was a heel of course. Gorilla tells Heenan to kiss him goodbye. Gorilla points out that nobody that drew numbers 1-5 have ever won the Rumble. Brain freaks out. Mr. Perfect is with Flair. Heenan was an associate of Flair. “I’m going to apologize to the people, I don’t think I can be objective,” says Heenan. Gorilla fires back: “When have you ever been objective?” Haha, love these two. Press slam by Bulldog. He hits him with a couple of clotheslines. It’s Jerry Saggs of the Nasty Boys at #4. They double team Bulldog. Saggs almost gets thrown out, then he celebrates on the apron and Bulldog dropkicks him out. “This is not fair to Flair!” yells Heenan. He says that many times. It’s Haku at #5 as the announcers go over the “every man for himself” decree once again. The heels double team Bulldog again. So far it’s been four heels with just Bulldog as a babyface. The crowd hates Flair so much that they cheer Haku for attacking him. Flair bails and Haku piledrives Bulldog. Heenan’s awesome here, telling Flair to stay down. Bulldog eliminates Haku just as the next entrant is about to come in.

The #6 entry? Shawn Michaels. He was newly turned heel after throwing Marty Jannetty through the Barber Shop window. He even hits a superkick on Flair about 10 seconds in. It wasn’t his finisher, though. Bulldog clotheslines Michaels, but he hangs on and superkicks Bulldog in a sloppy way. Did I just criticize HBK? I think I might get hit by a bolt of lightning now. Michaels is so great at the over the top bumps. Some say it’s bad, but I always enjoyed it and made him stand out to me as a superior athlete. It’s Tito Santana at #7. He goes right for Flair as Heenan freaks out. Ha, Flair did a double uppercut to Bulldog’s nuts. Classic Nature Boy. Wooooo! Flying forearm by Tito on Flair. Michaels would make that move even more famous. The #8 man is The Barbarian, who Heenan freaks out about because he’s big. By this point Michaels has nearly been eliminated four or five times. He’s showing off. Why? Because he can. The #9 competitor is The Texas Tornado, who would leave the WWF soon after this. And he’d die a year later. He does the Tornado punch and Flair does the Flair flop. Michaels does a spinning bump as well as a face first flop too. Two of the best ever right there, haha. Prior to this, Flair and Tornado (Kerry Von Erich) had some classic matches in other companies. Flair had classic matches with everybody, though. Hey it’s one of my favorite bad gimmicks ever in at #10: The Repo Man. You might remember him from previous Rumbles as Demolition member Smash. He’s sneaky about getting in the ring. What a gimmick. Vince probably thought it was genius and then blamed the wrestler for not getting it over. We’ve got 7 men in the ring now.

The #11 man is Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. He goes after Flair too. There’s not a whole lot going on at this point. Not a threat at #12 with Nikolai Volkoff as the announcers make mention of the fall of the Soviet Empire. Valentine puts the Figure Four on Flair. The crowd loves it while Heenan freaks out. Repo Man eliminates Volkoff. Yep, Repo Man is a threat to win! The Big Boss Man comes in at #13. He’s a babyface here. He threw some of the best punches ever. Repo Man eliminates Valentine. Repo Man is on fire! Michaels nearly flies over the top after a bunch from Boss Man. And Boss Man throws out Repo Man. Why watch from this point? The top guy is out. I’ll keep on going for you, reader, but my heart has left the match with Repo Man out. Flair eliminates Bulldog with a backdrop. He also eliminates Tornado with a backdrop. Michaels and Santana eliminate eachother. The ring has just three people in with Flair, Barbarian and Boss Man with Hercules entering at #14. Barbarian drops Flair with a press slam. He goes to eliminate Flair, but Hercules dumps Barbarian. Boss Man throws out Hercules leaving us with just Flair and Boss Man. Boss Man charges in, Flair ducks and Boss Man goes out. Brain freaks out: “YES! Flair wins it! Flair’s the champion of the world!” Haha that’s awesome. Gorilla explains there are still 16 more entrants. Wow, Flair does the face first flop as the clock counts down from ten. Joining Flair at #15 is Roddy Piper, who is a babyface here. “This isn’t fair to Flair” says Heenan again. Flair bails to the floor, so Roddy chases him and clotheslines him. Eye poke by Piper! Airplane spin. Classic stuff that the crowd loves. Sleeper hold.

The second half of the Rumble begins with #16 Jake Roberts. He lets Piper keep the sleeper on Flair for a bit, but he breaks it up. Roberts was a heel, doing his “trust me” gimmick that I absolutely loved. He was such a great heel. Short arm clothesline on Flair after Ric tried to get him to help. “This is definitely not flair to Flair,” yells Heenan. Flair puts the Figure Four on Roberts, but Roddy kicks both of them. HHHHHOOOOOOO! time with #17 “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, who was the winner of the first Rumble in 1988. Pay your taxes because #18 is Irwin R. Schyster aka IRS. Hacksaw does the double noggin knocker on Flair & Roberts leading to another Flair flop. Flair’s been in for 36 minutes by this point. It’s “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka at #19. He’s got the boots on again. That’s just not right. There hasn’t been much going on in the last few minutes. It’s because there are a lot of big names coming up. Real talk time with #20, The Undertaker. He’s so cool walking down the aisle. By the time he gets there the next man might have to come out. One punch and Snuka is eliminated by Undertaker. He chokes Flair as Heenan freaks out. Piper with the eye poke on Roberts. I mark out for those Piper eye pokes!

There’s a huge pop for #21, Randy Savage. He was a babyface here. His feud was with Jake Roberts. He looks for Jake, but he bailed to the floor. Undertaker grabs him, so Roberts takes some shots on him. He misses the clothesline as Savage freaks out on him. Double axe off the top by Savage and then he knees him in the back to eliminate Roberts. Then Savage leaps over the top to the floor. Undertaker goes outside the ring to punch Savage. He throws him back in. Is he eliminated? I guess not. Savage goes after Jake again. The announcers say nobody threw him out, so he’s able to go back in. My guess is Savage wasn’t supposed to get out of the ring over the top and he just did it out of instincts. They wanted him in the match longer, so in he goes. The rule in later years was if you go over the top to the floor you’re out even if you do it yourself. Undertaker’s offense in this era was really just choking people out since he was a young wrestler at this point. Flair with a low blow to Undertaker. He barely sells it. The Berzerker at #22! His specialty is throwing people over the top. YES! My favorite bad gimmick ever. HUSS! HUSS! Mark out! Heenan’s yelling at Flair to take it easy instead of fighting Savage. Savage hits a suplex on Flair. Undertaker and Piper choke Flair. Then Undertaker chokes Piper. Great offense, big man. It’s Virgil at #23, who is clearly not a threat to win. He’s a babyface wrestler at this point in his career. Come on Berzerker. Let’s go! More choking by Undertaker on Flair. It’s Colonel Mustafa at #24, who is the Iron Shiek. I always thought it was ridiculous that they would turn a former World Champion like Shiek into another gimmick. You can do it with lesser names, but not former top guys. Piper’s pounding on Flair in the corner, so Undertaker punches Piper in the ribs just for fun. The Berzerker is still in there, folks! The current endurance record holder Rick Martel is #25. Get out the Arrogance, folks. What’s great is that everybody goes after Flair when they get in there, including Martel here. Flair’s been in for 50 minutes now. There goes Mustafa at the hands of Savage. Flair hangs on again.

The #26 spot belongs to Hulk Hogan to a huge pop. He goes after Undertaker and Flair. Heenan is freaking out about it. Heenan: “Just let Flair win, I’ll be a different person. I promise you!” Classic! Hogan clotheslines Undertaker out. He lands on his feet, staring at Hulk. Hogan with a backdrop on The Berzerker. My heart hurts. How can I continue now? Duggan and Virgil get eliminated at the same time after a Virgil cross body. That was a very entertaining two minutes. And here comes another bad gimmick, Skinner, at #27. “The alligator man is fresh and ready to go,” says Gorilla. I think that says it all. We’ve got 7 men in the ring with another 3 guys due to enter it. This two minute stretch was pretty slow. It’s Sergeant Slaughter at #28, who a year earlier won the WWF Title as a heel Iraqi sympathizer. He was a babyface here, having turned back soon after the loss to Hogan at WrestleMania VII. Skinner gets eliminated. Slaughter follows suit with everybody else by going right after Flair. We’ve got Sid Justice at #29. He’s a babyface at this point in his career although that would soon change. He doesn’t go after Flair like everybody else does right away, but he does soon after. The last man at #30 is The Warlord.

There are 9 men left in the match as Flair pulls Hogan out on the floor with him. Hogan suplexes him on the floor. Sid eliminates Slaughter by whipping him hard into the turnbuckle and Slaughter went over stomach first. That looked painful. Hogan hits the big boot on Flair. Hogan and Sid eliminate Warlord together. “What a surprise!” says Gorilla. See, Warlord was always a threat to win even though he sucked. Sid eliminates Piper and Martel at the same time.

The final four are Hogan, Flair, Sid and Savage.

That’s a good group to end the match in terms of star power. Not like the year before with Knobbs being in the final three. Sid’s got Savage close, so Flair runs over, delivers a knee and Savage is out. It’s Flair against two bigger babyfaces. Flair does the Flair bump in the corner. Hogan kicks away at him. Sid looks over and flips Hogan out of the ring. The crowd cheers that! Yep, they are cheering against Hogan. Sid was a babyface at this point and was popular, but it was shocking that they’d boo Hogan at all. Hogan’s pissed off, saying they were working together. Sid tells him it’s every man for himself. Hogan, while on the floor, grabs Sid’s right arm and Flair dumps Sid. “YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!” That’s Heenan’s reaction. Flair wins.

Winner: Ric Flair

The match ended at 62:02.

After the match, Hogan and Sid argued with eachother. That would set up a match at WrestleMania VIII between them. A match that was terrible, by the way. Not a shocker there.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– Watch this Flair promo that aired at the end of the PPV. It’s the classic “with a tear in my eye” speech that is one of the best ever. Classic Nature Boy.

In a video that’s classic in a comedic way, here’s The Berzerker and Mr. Fuji talking about winning the Royal Rumble.

Huss! Huss!

– The booking for this Rumble was so good. They really featured Flair as the guy to carry the match. That’s exactly what he did. A lot of the guys attacked him when they got in the ring whether they were heel or face. He did so many Flair flops and had so many moments where it looked like he was going to get eliminated. He always found a way to hang on, though. He’s one of the best wrestlers ever. A lot of people say he is the best ever. He showed it here. It was Flair at his absolute best.

– The star power was really strong with a lot of legitimate top guys with Hogan, Flair, Savage, Sid, Dibiase, Piper, Slaughter and Undertaker to name a few. Then they had a good mix of young, up & comers and rounded it out with the bad gimmicks. The star power really helped though. I think it had more star power than any Rumble in the 90s.

– Undertaker wasn’t very impactful here. He was in the WWF Title picture to end the year, but they really limited his involvement here. I thought he should have lasted a lot longer.

– No more Hulk Hogan in Royal Rumbles after this. Like I wrote in previous recaps he really did a good job in the Rumbles because they focused on his strengths, which are the power moves and comebacks.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: Ric Flair at 59:26

Most Eliminations: Sid Justice with 6.

Best Performers (3): Ric Flair – Very easy call. He was the story of the match with everybody going after him and he was able to survive them all.

British Bulldog – I really liked his interaction with Flair early on. It would have been better if the had him last longer because he performed well.

Bobby Heenan – It’s rare to stick an announcer in this spot, but he deserves it. Honestly, it might be the best announcing performance in any one match in wrestling history. I absolutely love The Brain here. It’s Heenan at his best.

Best Elimination: Tie for the last two eliminations with Sid flipping out Hogan and then Flair flipping out Sid. I remember it as a kid so well. I thought Hogan was winning again, so I was so shocked (and happy) when Flair won. Yep, I liked the heels.

Match Rating: ****1/2 Best Rumble ever? At the time, yes. It still might be.

—-

The Hogan era was pretty much finished by the time 1993 came around. Of course, he found a way into the World Title at WrestleMania IX, but he wasn’t a full timer anymore. The company was moving on without him and the new face of the company, at least in January, was Bret Hart. He was the WWF Champion heading into this show.

For the first time (and for every Rumble since when a title wasn’t on the line), the winner of this match got to face Bret for the WWF Title at WrestleMania. It’s the stipulation that made the Rumble that much more special. Who went on to win? Let’s find out.

WWF Royal RumbleJanuary 24, 1993Sacramento, California

The announcers are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, who as I stated last time were the best pairing of announcers from this era. It was their last Rumble together, however, so I’m going to try to enjoy it.

The #1 slot is Ric Flair. He won the WWF Title a year earlier from the #3 spot, so Heenan theorizes he can do it again. It’s Bob Backlund at #2. He’s a very plain and often times boring wrestler who was in a babyface role. He also looks very young. They’re both former World Champions and they’re both wearing red trunks. There’s not much action with these two as Flair chops him a bunch and Backlund hits him with an atomic drop. It’s Papa Shango at #3. That’s Charles Wright aka Kama, The Godfather, The Goodfather and probably some other gimmicks I can’t remember. He goes to eliminate Backlund, but Flair dumps him in just 28 seconds. Gorilla loves to talk about Backlund’s “intestinal fortitude.” The #4 spot is Ted Dibiase, who always got booked early in these matches because he’s a good worker. That’s how you use the quality guys. Most of the two minutes is spent double teaming Backlund. Brian Knobbs of the Nasty Boys are #5. They’re a babyface team and the Nastys were feuding with Dibiase & IRS (Money Inc.) at this point. He goes to eliminate Flair, but Ric holds on as Heenan freaks out again. They pair off with Backlund going after Flair while Knobbs goes after Dibiase. He gives the Pit Stop to Dibiase, which is when he sticks his armpit in the guy’s face.

The #6 entrant is Virgil, who of course worked for Dibiase in the past. He knocks him down with a clothesline. Knobbs charges in at Dibiase, but Ted ducks and Knobbs is eliminated from the match. I’m not sad about that. Let’s just say I don’t think there will ever be a Best of Brian Knobbs DVD anytime soon. Flair continues to beat on Backlund while Dibiase works over Virgil. In at #7 is Jerry “The King” Lawler, who wasn’t a full time announcer at this point. Flair goes after him and then bails to the floor. He gets back in and tries to dump Virgil, but Lawler ends up saving him. Not a lot going on as #8 Max Moon enters. He’s a threat to win! Not really. The Max Moon gimmick was awful and predictably didn’t last too long. Moon charges Lawler, Jerry ducks and there goes Moon. We’ll miss you. It’s #9 Genichiro Tenryu, who was a famous wrestler in Japan that didn’t have a great WWF career. Their roster was really thin at this point. There are 6 guys out there as #10 buzzes in and it’s Mr. Perfect, fresh off a babyface turn. He goes right after Ric Flair as Heenan freaks out because they used to be allies. Flair bumps like crazy for everything. He even does his signature top rope bump. Heenan’s freaking out, asking for water. Flair comes back with chops. They would have a “career ending match” on Raw the next night that was already taped with Flair losing.

We’ve got another Rumble threat at #11…Skinner. Okay, so he’s not a threat. He’s just a really bad gimmick. Flair whips Perfect in, Flair ducks and Perfect knocks him out after nearly 20 minutes. Heenan goes nuts saying “That’s not fair to Flair” like he did the year before. The crowd loves it. And that’s the last PPV appearance we’d see of Flair in the WWF for 8 years. Now that there aren’t any personal issues in the ring there’s not much excitement in there. It’s Koko B. Ware at #12. He’s a Hall of Famer for some reason. He was one half of the High Energy team with Owen Hart. Perfect dropkicks Skinner out of there. One half of the Headshrinkers, Samu, is #13. He gets thrown in there by his manager Afa, who is also his father. YES! My guy, the HUSS man The Bezerker is #14. A huge threat to win! I love how much Monsoon and Heenan argue with eachother. That’s what I loved about them. Lawler charged in at Perfect and Mr. Perfect backdrops him out of there. Dibiase goes to dump Perfect out. He hangs on for a while, but Koko helps and Lawler pulls him out while he’s standing on the floor. Hey, one of those refs is ECW’s Bill Alfonso! Awesome. At least it looks like him. The Berzerker is the tallest man in the match, which makes him an immediate threat. It’s The Undertaker at #15, who is in his first run as a babyface. “By the time he gets to the ring it’ll be time for WrestleMania,” says Heenan. Great line. Berzerker beats on Backlund on the floor with a chair. Undertaker eliminates Samu. Berzerker slams Backlund on the cement floor. He’s so damn berserk. Undertaker eliminates Tenryu. Berzerker almost gets thrown out by Koko, but he holds on. He so crazy!

It’s Terry Taylor at #16. He’s no longer the Red Rooster here. Dibiase dumps Koko and Taylor at the same time. Undertaker goes after Dibiase, who is the one that brought him into the WWF. He gives him a chokeslam and then clotheslines him out of the ring, so Dibiase is gone.

“WHAT IS THAT?!” Suddenly this giant man walks down the aisle. He’s not in the match, but here he is anyway. It’s Giant Gonzalez. Undertaker eliminates The Berzerker with a backdrop. Gonzalez was tall, but he was thin, so he was wearing a full bodysuit to hide that fact. Heenan says he’s the biggest man he’s ever seen. It’s Damien Demento, another terrible gimmick, at #17. They don’t even show him. The big man chops Undertaker and he goes over the top to the floor. Undertaker’s out of the match. He fights him on the floor. Undertaker gets whipped into the steps. They go back in the ring and he gives Undertaker a chokeslam. The announcers have never seen anybody do this to Undertaker. IRS is #18, but he is in no rush. Gonzalez works over Undertaker’s knee, ramming it against the ring post. All the refs come out to break it up. He finally leaves. Undertaker tries to sit up, but he can’t do it. They would go on to have one of the worst feuds and matches ever at WrestleMania. It’s Tatanka at #19, who is a babyface. Bearer comes out with the urn to get The Undertaker up. He stumbles down. Then using the power of Real Talk he gets out of there limping. Gorilla says the guy that attacked Undertaker was 8 feet tall and that Brain’s assertion that he was 20 feet tall wasn’t realistic. Yeah because 8 feet tall is realistic. Undertaker’s about 6’10” and he was about 7’4″ or so. Not exactly 8 feet. It’s the other half of the babyface Nasty Boys, Jerry Saggs at #20.

Here’s another threat to win, Typhoon at #21. Heenan calls him Tugboat, which was his old name. He’s a very fat man, needless to say. It’s Fatu at #22, who we would later know as Rikishi. His sons, The Usos, are in WWE today. It’s Earthquake at #22, who was a part of the Natural Disasters team with Typhoon. And he goes after Typhoon right away for some reason. They smash bellies in the corner. I don’t know how else to say it. He charges into Earthquake, the Quake moves and there goes Typhoon all the way to the floor. “Every man for yourself, don’t be a sissy!” Good advice, Heenan. It’s Carlos Colon, the Caribbean Champion, at #23. His sons are Carlito and Primo. Monsoon calls him a youngster even though he was 45 years old at this point in his career. Colon eliminates Demento via backdrop. Go back to the Outer Reaches of Your Mind, Damien. Monsoon mentions that Backlund’s been in there for over 46 minutes. It’s El Matador Tito Santana in the #24 spot. He can win it all, says Heenan. Backlund dumps Fatu. Tito tries to get rid of Backlund, but the untanned one hangs on. Wow, that was a very sloppy clothesline by Backlund on IRS. He was really tired, I think. Rick Martel is in at #25. He goes right after Santana. They were tag partners years earlier. IRS charges in at Earthquake. He ducks and IRS is eliminated. The crowd cheered wildly for Backlund hanging on from the near elimination.

We have a legit threat coming in at #26…Yokozuna. He weighed well over 500 pounds according to Monsoon. That is one giant diaper. He no sells everything from Tatanka and throws him out of there. Colon goes after him and he gets knocked down with a punch. Earthquake points at him as we have a battle of the fat men. Rest in Peace for both of them. The crowd enjoys this showdown. They do a couple of shoulderblocks, but nobody really moves. The Rocket Owen Hart is #27. He was in the tag team High Energy with Koko B. Ware. Quake works on Yoko in the corner. He misses a charge, so Yoko flips him over with a belly to belly to eliminate Earthquake. Heenan says he’s going to win the Rumble and the title at WrestleMania. YES! Repo Man at #26. I mark out for Berzerker and Repo Man. I can’t help it. They are legends to me. Don’t question it. Embrace it. “Backlund is still out there,” says Monsoon. He says it many times throughout the match. Everybody gangs up on Yoko. The crowd loves that, but they’re unable to get rid of him. It was 6 on 1. Yoko fought them off. Finally some star power with a babyface Randy Savage at #30. This would be his second last Rumble. Owen dropkicks Saggs out of there. Owen charges in and Yokozuna whips him out with a rough hip toss. Wow, Owen took a hard bump there. That had to have hurt. They were future tag team partners too. Macho Man eliminates Repo Man.

The final four are Backlund, Martel, Savage and Yokozuna. Backlund fights off Martel and puts him on the top rope. He eliminates him with a forearm, sending Martel to the floor. Backlund hits Yoko in the back and then ha this “oh shit what did I do?” type of look on his face. He hits him with a couple of dropkicks. Then he charges in like a dumbass, so Yoko side steps him and hiptosses him out. You were in there for an hour. Don’t you know that charging in at people gets you eliminated? Come on Bob! It’s Savage with Yoko. The big man works him over in the corner. Savage fights back with kicks. Yoko has yet to go down. He goes up top and hits him with a double axehandle. The crowd is going nuts with Yoko teetering. Yoko goes down to one knee. Savage charges in and Yoko drops him with a superkick. He drops Savage with a belly to belly and legdrop. Yoko charges at him in the corner and hits a back splash. He goes for another one, Savage moves, Yoko hits the buckle and falls down. Savage to the top with the elbow! Crowd going nuts. He covers him? WHAT THE HELL? Yoko presses him over the top. I didn’t like that as a finish although they wanted to do it to show off his power. It’s just silly that Savage would go for a pinfall in a match that has no pinfalls.

Winner: Yokozuna

The match ended at 66:35.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– The talent in this Rumble is horrible. It might be the worst ever. That’s partly because of the roster overhaul that happened due to the steroid trial. It was one year after the 1992 Rumble, which is arguably the most star-studded Rumble ever. The problem with this match was it really lacked heated feuds. The crowd couldn’t get too excited for anything because of the lack of build for a lot of the interactions in the ring.

– The Perfect-Flair stuff was excellent. The crowd was really hot for all of it. I loved their chemistry together and they had some very good matches as well. I remember the Raw match that followed this as being very solid. It’s a shame Flair only stayed in the WWF for a year and a half at this point in his career, though.

– I really loved the Monsoon & Heenan team. They were legendary and deserved to be remembered as such. You could tell they were friends, but as performers, they contradicted eachother so well too. The bickering made them great.

– Even though Backlund lasted over an hour his involvement was pretty limited. He was there, but what did he really do? Not a whole lot. He did okay with the near eliminations. His style isn’t exciting, though.

– Every time I see the “Icopro” banner at the top of arenas I chuckle. What a great business move that was, Vince. What? I had nothing else to talk about.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: Bob Backlund at 61:10.

Most Eliminations: Yokozuna with 7.

Best Performers (3): Bob Backlund – He lasted the longest by far, so you have to give him props. He wasn’t outstanding, though, which summarizes the match.

Mr. Perfect – His energy was fantastic. I wish he was booked to last into the final four, though. They needed his talent in there longer.

Yokozuna – He was put over huge here. If Savage was in longer he’d get this spot. Yoko did great in the monster role.

Best Elimination: Yokozuna throwing Owen Hart was the best-looking elimination in the match. It looked painful. I liked Perfect eliminating Flair too.

Match Rating: **1/4 It was okay at best. Far from great.

Next up is the 1994 Royal Rumble, which had one of the most controversial finishes in Rumble match history, the 1995 Rumble that had a great finish to the match and the 1996 Rumble was one of the more predictable ones.

]]>Welcome one and all to the latest installment of the NXT Spotlight here at TJRWrestling. We have only 2 episodes left until our next Takeover event in Phoenix. The card is coming together and I’m sure we’ll get it filled out by the end of today’s episode. Before we kick off, I want to send well wishes to Dakota Kai, who announced she tore her ACL last month. She was becoming one of my favorites in NXT and this sucks to hear. Now, let’s get on with the show!

The Street Profits vs. The Metro Brothers

The Metros have been on before, they’re the new version of Deuce & Domino. Montez Ford and Chris Metro will start the match. Chris with a shove and Montez with one back that knocks Chris down. Metro back up and with a right hand. Montez with a double leap frog and then a nice dropkick. Angelo Dawkins in now and drops Chris with a shoulder tackle. He then gets Montez up in a back suplex and Montez flips over into a splash on Chris. The Profits are hyping themselves up and Angelo ends up shoving Montez down, which was pretty funny. JC Metro comes in and slaps Angelo, which doesn’t go well. Angelo sends him down with a hard right hand, and then Chris gets one too, much to the funny delight of Montez. Montez to the top rope with his frog splash and that’s the match.

Winners: Street Profits

Post match, as The Profits are celebrating with the crowd, here comes the Forgotton Sons with an ambush attack. They get Montez trapped in the ring 3 on 1 and Jaxson Ryker lays out Montez with a sitout chokeslam. The crowd chants, “we forgot you”, which is amusing. Angelo tries to come in the ring to cover his partner, but Blake and Cutler get him up and drop him with their double team reverse DDT/curb stomp.

K-Tank’s Take: Two teams/stables that I’m a big fan of, so I’m good with a future feud between them. It’s good to see Street Profits back on TV as they are so entertaining. Montez Ford just exudes charisma. Hopefully with Heavy Machinery moving up, that gives a team like the Profits more time in the future.

We go backstage to Matt Riddle and Keith Lee. Riddle is asked if he’ll be ringside for the match. He says he hasn’t been medically cleared yet, so he can’t be ringside. There is nothing more he’d like to do than see Ohno find out why Lee is Limitless. He just hopes Keith leaves him a little something, so that he can get a piece…BRO.

We go to a pre-produced interview with Aleister Black. The days of Takeover: Phoenix are at hand. Ciampa thought he was safe and spared from Black. But he will absolve Ciampa of his sins and take back his NXT Title to put it back around the waist it belongs on. He challenges Ciampa to meet him at Full Sail next week to start the fight a little early.

Undefeated Meets The Champ

Before I start, I need someone to send me a .gif of the white guy dancing to Belair’s theme song. Tremendous. Chaos tried to stop Belair’s ride. But when she sent Nikki Cross home, the whole world learned what’s up. 2019 is Belair’s year, but she’s got 2020 vision when it comes to that NXT women’s title. Shayna may have the title and may have the Horsewomen, and may think she’s the baddest, but at Takeover, the EST of NXT is walking out with that title. Because she’s Un-De… And that cues up the champ’s music. She’s escorted by Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir.

They make their way to the ring. Shayna says she doesn’t see it about being the EST of NXT. Everyone knows about the records at the PC, she may be the fastest and strongest, but she’s obviously not the smartest. If she had half a brain, it doesn’t matter how big and strong her arms are, Shayna is going to tear them off in Phoenix. Bianca says, girl uh-huh. The only thing that’s going in her arms is the NXT women’s championship. Shayna says she’s just like everyone else. Just like everyone else, they don’t put their money where their mouth is and just fight Shayna. She’s afraid that Shayna is gonna break her arms and end the hype. Bianca is afraid that she’s gonna change the vocabulary from undefeated to overrated. Bianca eyeballs all three in the ring and Shayna tells her not to worry, they won’t have anythign to do with the match. Shayna goes to move them to the corner, but when she turns around, Bianca smacks her right in the face. She avoids getting hit by Duke and Shafir and leaves the ring content.

K-Tank’s Take: This was a fun promo with some great lines. The 2020 line by Bianca was strong, and then the vocabulary line by Shayna was good too. This match is going to have an interesting dynamic and I’m really excited to see it.

Dominik Dijakovic vs. Adrian Jauode

Jauode trying to throw Dijakovic off early with his BJJ style. He manages to get Dijakovic off his feet a couple times and tries a side mount, but it doesn’t work. Jauode with a fireman’s carry that gets Dijakovic back down. Jauode gets Dijakovic back in the corner but that’s where Dijakovic is able to get separation finally. Big back elbow by Dijakovic and then a running clothesline in the corner. Dijakovic with a tossing suplex that sends Jauode across the ring. Jauode back up with punches and kicks but Dijakovic with forearms and a big clothesline right back. Jauode looking for a knee bar but Dijakovic falls into the ropes. Jauode gets up and hits a roundhouse kick that sends Dijakovic into the corner. Jauode tries charging him but runs into a big boot. Dijakovic says it’s time to Feast Your Eyes and gets him up for the reverse GTS and the win.

Winner: Dominik Dijakovic

K-Tank’s Take: I did not like this matchup for Dijakovic. The beginning was just awkward and it didn’t mesh well and showcase him enough. He and Keith Lee have been killing it at live events lately according to all reports, so hopefully we can see something like that moving forward.

We’re shown a vignette hyping up The War Raiders and their Viking lifestyle. Pretty cool video with them setting a bonfire that has the Undisputed Era chairs with logos, on top. They say the reign will end in Phoenix and THAT is undisputed.

We get a big video recap of the first NXTUK Takeover event. If you haven’t watched it yet, go out of your way to see at least Pete Dunne vs. Joe Coffey. That match was off the charts good.

Johnny Gargano vs. Humberto Carillo

It’s hilarious that Carillo just debuted on 205 Live, and almost dwarfs Gargano. Maybe not so hilarious when you think about Gargano’s prospects on the main roster. Strong chain wrestling to start until Gargano lands a left hand to get the advantage. Carillo flips out of the way of an attack in the corner and then dives off the second rope for a sunset flip attempt. Gargano rolls through, both miss a kick, then Carillo comes back around with an enziguri. Carillo bounces off the second rope with a high arm drag takeover that sends Gargano to the floor. Carillo tries a dive from the inside, but Gargano hops on the apron and dives through the ropes with his spear into the ring. Gargano with a dropkick to the back of Carillo’s head. Carillo with a boot to the face of Gargano in the corner and then a handspring back elbow that sends Gargano back to the floor. Carillo with a twisting dive over the top rope that takes out Gargano.

Carillo gets him back in the ring and goes to the top rope and comes off with a high missile dropkick. Standing moonsault by Carillo for a two count. Carillo sets Gargano up for a moonsault from the top, but Gargano gets his feet up as Carillo is coming down. Gargano with a superkick and then a lawn dart into the middle turnbuckle. Gargano goes to the apron and hits his slingshot DDT, which gets the 3 count.

Winner: Johnny Gargano

After the match, Gargano gets in the face of one of the cameras at ringside and says if Ricochet wants his respect, show up next week and he’ll get all the respect he wants.

K-Tank’s Take: Fun match for the time it was given. I laughed a little when I realized Gargano was letting his chest hair grow out. That’s an old school thing about how heels have body hair and babyfaces don’t. I can’t wait for him and Ricochet at Takeover. That will be hard to beat.

Now we go to Tomasso Ciampa backstage. He says Black likes to call him the Puppetmaster. If he’s the Puppetmaster, then that makes Black the ultimate puppet. Black is so gullible that he’s telling everyone that they don’t have to wait til Phoenix and he’s gonna bring the fight to the champ. Black still doesn’t understand. Ciampa only fights on the biggest stages. So yes, he is going to wait until Phoenix. That’s what a top level guy does. He wouldn’t expect Black to understand that. Be careful what you wish for though.

We get the vignette of The Velveteen Dream that we saw last week and he will be in action next week.

Keith Lee vs. Kassius Ohno

10 minutes left in the show as the bell rings. Keith shoots Kassius into the ropes and knocks him down with a shoulder tackle. Keith tries a powerbomb but Kassius avoids it. Kassius with a chop that has no effect. Keith leapfrogs Ohno with ease, drop down, and then a running cross body for a two count. Ohno now going to the floor to regroup after that. Lee is thinking about a dive to the floor but Ohno runs away before he can do it. They get back in the ring and Keith avoids a big boot and then chops Ohno. He sends Ohno to the ropes and delivers a towering back body drop. Ohno in the corner and Keith charges him, but Ohno trips him and Keith hits the turnbuckles.

Ohno now in control as he works Keith over in the corner and then hits two big boots while Keith is on his knees. Keith gets up but is met with a third and forth boot before Ohno finally hits a running senton for a two count. Ohno with the ultimate rest hold as he’s literally just holding Keith’s arms and Keith is selling it like a submission. Keith gets up but Ohno with punches and kicks still. Ohno sends Keith throat first into the top rope and then delivers an elbow strike to the back of the head for a two count. Ohno back to the same ridiculous rest hold. Keith up again, but yet again Ohno with kicks. He tries another senton splash but Keith gets the knees up this time. Both men up and swinging with all their might. Keith gets Ohno in the corner and hits an avalanche splash. He then tosses Ohno across the ring. Keith ends up on the apron and does a slingshot cross body splash for a two count.

Ohno starting to beg off and then Keith catches a right hand before dropping Ohno with a clubbing forearm. Ohno back up with a shot to the midsection, but Keith fights it off. Mongolian chop by Keith and then he hits the Pounce. He tries to get Ohno up for the finisher, but Ohno grabs the ropes. Ohno lets go, but ends up shoving Keith into the ref. Keith checks on him, but that allows Ohno to come from behind and hit a low blow. Ohno gets up and lands a roaring elbow for the win.

Winner: Kassius Ohno

Post match, Matt Riddle comes charging the ring, refs are trying to hold him back. Ohno slides out as Riddle checks on his friend. That ends our show. It was announced after the show that Kassius Ohno and Matt Riddle will have another rematch at Takeover: Phoenix, which does in fact round out our card now.

K-Tank’s Take: Did I mention how ridiculous that rest hold was? TWICE! Ugh. Totally took me out of the match. As I said earlier, Keith is killing it on live events, so I’m not worried that he’s lost his last two matches on TV as they’ve both been main event matches and he’s looked good in both. He’ll get his opportunity. Maybe he’ll transition back into a feud with Ohno after the match with Riddle at Takeover, which should be the blowoff.

That’s it for this week. We’ll be back next week for the go-home heading into Takeover. Until next time, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do… but if you do, name it after me!

]]>January is WWE Royal Rumble month, so it’s a nice time to look back on the history of WWE’s annual January event by re-posting my reviews of every Royal Rumble match in WWE history. By that I mean the actual matches (not the whole PPV), which I reviewed in depth earlier this decade and you can check out in our Royal Rumble section at any time.

What I’ll be doing is posting three Rumble reviews in each post. I could break them up and do them individually again, but I think three in one is a little easier for you the reader.

WWF Royal RumbleJanuary 24, 1988Hamilton, Ontario

The announcers are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura. This is a 20 man Royal Rumble as opposed to the 30 man Rumble’s we would get accustomed to. It was also broadcast on USA Network rather than being a PPV like we know it to be.

#1 is Bret Hart, #2 is Tito Santana. They are already in the ring as ring announcer Howard Finkel explains the rules. Tito was tag champion in Strike Force while Bret was a heel. Nice atomic drop by Bret. I mark for atomic drops. Classic move. #3 is “The Natural” Butch Reed. He’s a black man with blonde hair, long before Wesley Snipes in Demolition Man. The heels work over Tito with a double back elbow. There’s no official buzzer that we’d get used to years later, but you can hear the crowd. #4 is Jim Neidhart, who is Bret’s partner in the Hart Foundation. It’s three heels versus “Chico” as Jesse calls him. Big elbow off the middle rope by Bret. They finally put a clock up in anticipation of #5…Jake Roberts, who is a babyface. He throws Reed out. That’s your history lesson. First elimination in Rumble history is Jake Roberts dumping out Butch Reed. One thing you notice is how hot the crowd is. I bet WWE wishes their fans popped like this upon the sight of babyfaces. It’s explosive. The heels take over and #6 is King Harley Race. “Look at the speed of the King…” says Roberts. This was near the end of Harley’s awesome career.

You can tell the Rumble is in its infant stages because the fans go nuts over the spot where people are threatening to be tossed over the top even though years later nobody ever pops for those spots. #7 is Jumping Jim Brunzell to make it 3 to 3 in terms of heels and faces. Haha! Jake just ripped the beard of Neidhart. What a spot. #8 is Sam Houston, a babyface who I barely remember. Just looked him up. He didn’t last too long and he’s actually the half brother of Jake Roberts. So there you go. The Hart Foundation teams up to throw Santana out, so he’s the second elimination. “Oh no not this guy” says Vince as former ref Dangerous Danny Davis is in there at #9. This crowd is awesome. They are not shutting up despite the fact that it’s all a punch and kick fest. #10 is Boris Zhukov, who is another guy that didn’t last too long in the WWF. There’s not much play by play to do here. Everybody tries eliminating people, but nobody ever really goes.

It was nice to see Jesse put over Bret Hart’s endurance in the match. Little things like that make a difference. And this was three years before Bret’s singles run would start, which tells you how high management was on Hart. #11 is Don Muraco although Nikolai Volkoff also comes out at the same time. It looks like it’s really Muraco, who was also known as The Rock in case you didn’t know. Zhukov is eliminated. #12 is Volkoff, who of course jumped the gun a spot too early. I guess he’s dumb? Muraco eliminates Race. I enjoy Ventura ripping on McMahon more than I enjoy the match I think. #13 is Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Race takes a shot at him, Duggan chases, Race leaves and Duggan gives a “HOOOOO!” before going in the ring. Huge pop for Duggan. #14 is “uh oh The Outlaw Ron Bass” according to Vince. He didn’t last too long in the company either. The most popular guys are Roberts, who gets a lot of DDT chants, and Hacksaw who gets a huge reaction with his “HOOOO!” chant. Volkoff eliminates Brunzell with a toss over his shoulder. #15 is B. Brian Blair, the other half of the Killer Bees. There are a lot of tag wrestlers.

We get the first of our last five entrants as #16 in Hillbilly Jim. He quickly tosses out Jim Neidhart. Sorry Natalya. There are 10 guys in the ring as Dino Bravo comes out at #17. Ventura puts him over as the Strongest Man in the World. There goes Sam Houston in one of the best/worst bumps of the night as he fell off the shoulders of Ron Bass. A huge pop for #18 is Ultimate Warrior, who was still pretty new at this time. Muraco eliminates Bret Hart, who was in the longest at 25:42, which Ventura puts over very well. #19 is One Man Gang, who is an overwhelming favorite because he’s big and that’s the rule for the Royal Rumble. Vince: “Why’s he picking on Jake?” Jesse: “Because he’s a snake.” Expert commentary, folks. OMG (that stands for One Man Gang as opposed to Oh My God) eliminates Roberts. Last man at #20 is Junkyard Dog. We have ten men in the ring. Feel the excitement.

Jesse asks Vince who is going to win. Vince says Junkyard Dog or One Man Gang. Jesse says Gang too. Duggan eliminates Volkoff and Gang eliminates Hillbilly Jim. Duggan clotheslines Danny Davis over the top as Ventura praises Davis. There goes Ultimate Warrior, eliminated by Bravo and Gang. They really didn’t give Warrior much to do here although over the next two years he got pushed to the top of the company. Ron Bass eliminates JYD. A little odd booking there, but you can’t stop the Bass Man I guess. I just called him the Bass Man. Don’t think anything of it. Muraco eliminates Bass. You can tell they’re hurrying for the finish now.

The final four are Muraco, Gang, Duggan and Bravo. Bravo & Gang work on Muraco. Bravo holds him, Gang charges and he clotheslines Muraco over the top to the floor. Wow, that spot never works. Usually the guy holding him gets eliminated by mistake. It worked in 1988 though! Now it’s Duggan left with Gang & Bravo, both of whom are heels. Double clothesline on Duggan. Now Bravo holds Duggan, Gang charges and this time Duggan moves, so Bravo is eliminated. I guess they set that spot up nicely, huh? The announcers question how Gang could be eliminated. Then as they’re talking about it, Duggan’s against the ropes, Gang charges in, Duggan ducks and like the idiot that he is Gang misses and ends up over the top rope onto the floor.

Winner: Hacksaw Jim Duggan

The match ended at 33:23, so it was not two minutes per entrant like they said. Oh my God, WWE lied to us! Crazy.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– This wasn’t a PPV and there was no title shot on the line like we’d see in the future, so having somebody like Duggan win this was good booking. He was a popular midcard babyface for most of his career. As I wrote throughout, the crowd was really hot for everything he did in there.

– It was nice to see Bret Hart featured as much as he was. You could tell from the commentary that they saw a bright future for him.

– No DDTs by Roberts even though the crowd was super hot for him and calling for it. A little disappointing that he didn’t deliver. It’s 25 years later and that move is still very popular although now we see so many variations of it.

– Watching this match I was reminded of how good the tag division was back then. They actually cared about creating tag teams and giving them feuds whether they were in the title picture or not.

– You could see how raw the Ultimate Warrior was here. He would get the biggest push of anybody in this match, but he was a nobody at this point. He didn’t even look that big, really. He would “grow” in the coming years.

Best Elimination: Bass eliminating Houston – That was a big bump especially for 1988.

Match Rating: **1/2 – It was well booked for the most part although the lack of action hurts the quality. There are way too many slow points. Of course this was only the first Rumble, though, so they would improve on that obviously.

—

The WWF Champion at the time was Randy Savage, who was one half of the Megapowers team with Hulk Hogan. How would they use the Rumble to set up things for WrestleMania V? Let’s find out.

WWF Royal RumbleJanuary 15, 1989Houston, Texas

The announcers are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura. This is the first 30 man Royal Rumble to be broadcast live on pay-per-view. Howard Finkel explained the rules. Two guys start the match, then every two minutes somebody else comes in and in order to be eliminated both feet have to touch the floor.

Number 1 is Ax. Number 2 is Smash. They are the tag champs known as Demolition. I love this theme song. And they are both from Parts Unknown. It’s like a tropical paradise there, I hear. They brawl for two minutes with a lot of punching, basically. Needless to say, they aren’t known for their awesome ring work. Ax almost eliminated Smash at one point. The clock counts down and the crowd doesn’t chant with it. Here’s #3…Andre the Giant, who is a heel at this point. No theme music for the entrants. They do a double clothesline to knock Andre down. The whole two minutes was Demolition working on him with punches and tag team moves. #4 is a favorite of mine, Mr. Perfect. This was at a point when he was new to the WWF and an undefeated heel at this point in his career. He’s not wearing his normal ring gear yet. Andre throws Smash out of the ring as the first elimination. Perfect and Ax work on Andre by stepping on his face. Perfect does the Bret Hart chest bump in the turnbuckle because he’s awesome. And then he nearly does a flip off a headbutt from Andre. The #5 entrant is “Rugged” Ronnie Garvin, who was just an average talent. They triple team Andre, but they can’t do it because his arms are hooked into the ropes. I like how Gorilla pointed out that Andre likely has the best record in the history of battle royals. That’s true and there’s nobody in the history of wrestling that is more of a battle royal threat than Andre. Speaking of Andre, he sat on Ax for a bit just because he’s Andre and you can’t stop him.

The #6 entrant is Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. Oops, Jesse said “Axe Hennig” instead of Mr. Perfect. That was his dad, Larry Hennig. Andre eliminates Garvin with a hip toss as the second elimination. Andre goes around choking everybody with a lovely smile on his face. You can tell he’s enjoying this. The #7 man is Jake “The Snake” Roberts, who was a babyface here. He went right after Andre. Valentine hits Andre twice, but Andre doesn’t care and does some more choking on Jake. Then Andre steps on him. I love Andre’s offense. Seriously. The guy was larger than life more than anybody in the history of wrestling, so it worked for him. Huge draw. I’ll never forget meeting him when I was about 8 years old. I was scared shitless, but he was so damn friendly with us. The #8 man is “The Outlaw” Ron Bass. I barely remember him. Andre eliminates Jake, who only lasted about 2 minutes thanks to Andre beating him down. We’ve got five men in the ring now. The action is pretty slow. The announcers can barely believe that Ax has lasted this long. It hasn’t been that long. #9 is the best wrestler in WWE history Shawn Michaels. He was a part of The Rockers babyface tag team here. Perfect dumps out Ax. Then Perfect goes after Shawn, but HBK skins the cat back in, which was not something we were used to seeing in 1989. Dropkick by HBK, Perfect goes over the top, but he hangs on. Two great athletes showing their stuff right there. And there’s Andre choking Bass. #10 is Buschwhacker Butch. Hey there’s Jake Roberts coming back in. He’s got his snake Damien in the bag. He throws it in the ring. Andre freaks out and takes off, eliminating himself from the match. The crowd was going nuts for all of this. Jake left the ring happy. We are back to five with Perfect, Michaels, Valentine, Butch and Bass.

The #11 man is Honky Tonk Man, who is a heel of course. The announcers do a good job of pointing out how rare it is to see guys like Perfect and HTM fighting (due to being heels), but in a Rumble match anything goes. Valentine and HTM are close to eliminating Michaels. Shawn holds on. #12 is Tito Santana or “Chico” as Jesse calls him and he immediately goes after Perfect with a back body drop plus clothesline combo. Michaels is bumping all over the place now. #13 is Bad News Brown. What do you think: babyface or heel? The name gives it away doesn’t it? Tito & Butch eliminate HTM leaving us with seven guys. Michaels goes up top with a double punch to the head just because he can. Valentine gives Michaels an atomic drop and Michaels almost gets eliminated. Right on cue #14 is Marty Jannetty, Michaels’ partner in the Rockers. Double elbow on Bass followed by a double dropkick and the Rockers eliminate Bass. Can somebody tell me why was Bass on the poster of the event? Marginal talent, at best. Tito hits the flying forearm on Valentine, but the Hammer hangs in there. We are at the halfway point now with #15 being the WWF Champion Randy Savage who comes out to a HUGE pop. He goes right after Bad News Brown. Valentine works over Savage, who comes back at him with a double axehandle.

The #16 man is Arn Anderson. Savage eliminates Valentine. Hey, there’s a superkick by Michaels on Anderson. Savage & Anderson double team Michaels and eliminate him with a back elbow. That was pretty random. Anderson goes up top even though he never goes up, Jannetty punches him and Arn gets crotched. The #17 guy is Tully Blanchard, who is Arn’s partner in the Brainbusters team. I’m counting 8 guys in there now although there’s very little action until Anderson hits a VINTAGE spinebuster on Jannetty. Marty is eliminated. #18 is Hulk Hogan to the biggest pop of the night thus far. He saves Macho from Mr. Perfect and he throws out Perfect. There goes Tito Santana. As the years went by the eliminations were booked much better. You can see how raw it is at this point in only the second Rumble ever. Hogan’s getting triple teamed, so Gorilla wonders why Savage isn’t helping his friend. It’s Buschwhacker Luke at #19. Brown eliminates Butch. Hogan with a press slam on Blanchard and he drops him across the top rope. That looked scary actually. The big story is Hogan getting double teamed as well as Savage getting double teamed. Big boot to Arn “right in the kisser” as Gorilla says. In at #20 is future WWE Hall of Famer (ugh) Koko B. Ware. He was an average lower card babyface at best. Arn goes up again, Hogan catches him there and Arn takes the Flair bump after getting tossed down. That was a tribute to his friend I think. Hogan eliminates Koko & Luke with consecutive back drops leaving us with Hogan, Savage, Brown, Blanchard & Anderson.

The 21st entrant is the Warlord. While he’s coming out, Hogan eliminates Arn & Tully with a double clothesline. The Warlord poses on the apron, he walks into the ring, Hogan charges, clothesline and Warlord is eliminated in 2 seconds. He would hold that record for 20 years. Congrats Warlord. On the other side of the ring, Brown & Savage are struggling. Hogan sees it, he lifts Brown up & he’s gone. While he did that he also tossed Savage “accidentally.” Savage is pissed, yelling at Hogan for it. Ventura takes Savage’s side while Gorilla defends Hogan. Elizabeth comes running out and she gets between Hulk and Randy. This was your big WrestleMania setup right here. She gets Macho to shake his hand. They hugged too. That was such a big angle. It may be hard to understand it now, but if you remember this era then you know how big this was.

In at #22 is Big Boss Man. It’s just two people now since Hogan cleared everybody else out. Bodyslam by Hogan. Splash by Boss Man followed by a piledriver. That move is banned in WWE these days. The #23 entrant is Akeem, who is Boss Man’s partner in the Twin Towers team. A year earlier he was known as One Man Gang. Hogan slams the very large Akeem, but they are able to overwhelm him. Hogan comes back with a double noggin knocker (classic phrase!) plus a back drop on Boss Man. The numbers game catch up to him as they double team Hogan with a splash in the corner. Then they throw Hogan out rather easily. Post elimination, Hogan fights with both guys on the floor. The #24 person is Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. Boss Man goes into the ropes, Hogan pulls it down and that eliminates Boss Man. That’s your babyface Hogan. They go fighting up the aisle. Back in the ring, Akeem and Beefcake struggle in the ring. “It’s the Red Rooster” at #25. It’s one of the worst gimmicks in wrestling history. That’s what it is. Beefcake and Rooster double team Akeem, but he fights them off as the announcers wonder how he can be eliminated.

We’ve got another heel in at #26 in The Barbarian while Gorilla says he’s stupid for not helping them eliminate Akeem. These are not very good wrestlers, I have to say. Big splash by Akeem on Red Rooster. How could be it a little splash when he’s over 400 pounds? A big favorite comes in at #27 – Big John Studd. Sometimes the ladies call me that. Not often enough, though. It’s okay. It’s a slugfest with Studd & Akeem. Vince is marking out over that. In at #28 is Hercules. They need more guys with big muscles in there. Crazy how there was steroid trial in WWE a few years after this, huh? The announcers discuss where Dibiase is, suggesting that he bought the #30 spot. We’re not there yet, though, as #29 comes in and it’s Rick Martel, who was a babyface here. The Studd-Akeem interaction has literally been Studd holding him for about four minutes. It’s as bad as it sounds, trust me. The last entrant at #30 is the “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase, who comes out with Virgil. We’ve got 8 people left: Studd, Akeem, Hercules, Barbarian, Red Rooster, Martel, Beefcake and Dibiase.

The Rooster gets some offense in on Dibiase, which is pretty rare for The Rooster. See what I mean? Dibiase throws him in the turnbuckle and he takes the Flair turnbuckle bump to be eliminated from the match. He had the Flair hair, boots & tights to match. Beefcake puts the sleeper on Hercules, so Dibiase & Barbarian eliminate them both leaving us with five. Powerslam by Barbarian on Martel and then he hits a headbutt off the top. Barbarian charges in, Martel ducks, hits a dropkick and Barbarian is eliminated.

The final four: Ted Dibiase, Big Jon Studd, Akeem and Rick Martel. Martel charges at Akeem, he catches Martel and throws him out to eliminate him. Studd fights off both heels as best he can. Akeem splashes him in the corner. He does it again except this time Dibiase accidentally goes in front of him. Studd comes out of the corner and clubs Akeem in the back, sending him over the top. We’re down to two. Dibiase pleads with him, telling him he’ll give him some money. Studd overpowers him in the corner. His offense isn’t very impressive and he has very limited mobility. He did bust out a butterfly suplex that surprised me. There was even a Gutwrench suplex that looked stiff as hell. Clothesline by Studd. Then he tosses out Dibiase. That was an anticlimactic ending. Post match, he beat Virgil up too.

Winner: Big John Studd

The match ended at 64:53. The intervals were a legitimate two minutes this time.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– I forgot how immobile Big John Studd was. I don’t think he took very many bumps here. It’s like he was standing up straight the whole time. The last ten minutes really sucked in terms of quality, largely because of him.

– Hogan was great here. And I don’t love Hogan, but I have to give him props. He had a lot of energy and the match was way better when he was in it. When he left it got worse.

– Savage was the WWF Champion, yet he only eliminated two guys. They didn’t book him strong enough. I understand that most of the eliminations were done by the big guys, but this is your champion. You need to make him look better. The accidental elimination by Hogan was good. You could see both sides of it and I liked hearing the announcers bicker about it.

– I never really noticed it until here, but they really made Terry Taylor aka The Red Rooster into a Ric Flair knockoff. The hair, the tights, having “RR” on his boots (Flair always had “RF” on his) and he even did the Flair flop to get eliminated. Of course calling a guy “The Red Rooster” was ridiculously stupid.

– I always have been and always will be a huge Andre The Giant mark. I can’t explain it except to say that he entertained me so much when I was little. You just marveled at how big he was. Sometimes workrate doesn’t matter. You just have to look at the entertainment value. To me, Andre’s one of the best entertainers ever in wrestling history.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: Mr. Perfect at 27:58

Most Eliminations: Hulk Hogan with 10.

Best Performers (3): Hulk Hogan – He really performed well in terms of eliminating guys as well as furthering the angle with Savage.

Mr. Perfect – He didn’t do anything special, but he was in there the longest and took some great bumps to make others look good. I mean, come on, he did a flip after taking an Andre headbutt. That’s skill.

Andre The Giant – Because seeing him try to move fast when the snake was in there was tremendous comedy!

Best Elimination: The Warlord going out in two seconds is a classic. I have to give it to that.

Match Rating: ** The last ten minutes were pretty awful. When Hogan & Savage were in there the heat was through the roof. The rest of the time it was pretty average.

—

To begin the 1990 calendar year, the WWF World Champion was Hulk Hogan. He’s in this match. His WrestleMania VI opponent, The Ultimate Warrior, is also in the match. I wonder if they’ll interact in some way to set up their match at WrestleMania? Hmmm. Let’s find out.

WWF Royal RumbleJanuary 21, 1990Orlando, Florida

The announcers are Tony Schiavone (ugh) and Jesse Ventura. Why is it Tony? When they show Howard Finkel during the introduction they only put “The Fink” this time. No full name. Sorry Howard. Nice hair, though. I like when the Fink says this loudly: “Remember in the Royal Rumble it is every man for himself!” Okay thanks, I didn’t know before.

The #1 entrant is Ted Dibiase. He was #30 the year before. The #2 entrant is Koko B Ware, who comes out with his bird Frankie. Dibiase attacks him right away and doesn’t let Koko get going at all. Koko no sells it when Dibiase slams him into the turnbuckle. What is he, Samoan? Koko charges in with Dibiase against the ropes, so Ted dumps him over the top. We get the music playing when the guys come out this year. Good move, WWE. #3 is Marty Jannetty of the Rockers. I’m sure that over 20 years ago people were wondering which one of the Rockers would be better. Don’t sleep on Marty. He’s still got time! Dibiase goes for a double axe, but Marty counters and gets a back elbow. Dibiase’s against the ropes, Marty charges, Dibiase ducks and Marty goes flying over the rope with a cross body block. Ted’s alone in the ring for 15 seconds again. The #4 man is Jake Roberts to a huge pop. He’s still a babyface. I liked him more as a heel, but that would be in the future. They had a rivalry at this point. The crowd is super hot for it. They brawl on the floor a bit and then Jake gets the short clothesline, but Ted counters the DDT. The #5 man is Macho King Randy Savage. He was a heel here, so they double team Jake a lot. Three of the biggest names in the company are in here early. That’s usually a good thing in terms of quality of the Rumble. I mark out for double axehandles off the top. Do you? The Macho/Jake feud in the future would be pretty awesome although they’d be in different roles.

In at #6 is Roddy Piper; another guy that was near the main event level. He’s a babyface at this point. He saves Jake from the double teaming. The crowd is hyper. Macho nearly eliminated Piper and then Piper nearly eliminated him. That was a great two minutes (that’s what she said). #7 is the Warlord, who got eliminated in 2 seconds the previous year. He goes after Jake and Piper. The odds that The Warlord could pass a WWE Wellness Policy today? 1%. And that’s generous. The #8 man is Bret Hart, who was still part of The Hart Foundation tag team for another year. Everybody in there except the Warlord is a legitimate Hall of Famer if the Hall of Fame was legit. Good match in terms of star power. In at #9 is Bad News Brown, who was a heel. Look at his name. It says “bad” in it. Jake goes to DDT Dibiase, but Macho comes charging in and clothesline Jake over the top to eliminate him. That was a cool spot. Piper nearly knocks Dibiase out, but Savage saves him. Ted is carrying the match at this point with Savage doing great too. Two of my all-time favorites. The #10 entrant is Dusty Rhodes. He looks “dashing” in those yellow polka dots doesn’t he? (See what I did there?) He goes after Savage, who he was having a feud with. Macho charges in at Dusty, who gives a backdrop and Savage goes all the way over the top to the floor to get eliminated. That sets up a Savage-Dusty WM match although it was a mixed tag with Sherri and Sapphire involved, which wasn’t great.

The #11 man is Andre The Giant, who is still a heel here and was near the end of his career. Andre headbutts the Warlord and then gives him a hip toss to the floor, eliminating him. Piper and Dusty double team Andre, but he breaks free with the vintage double noggin knocker. In at #11 is the Red Rooster Terry Taylor and he gets a decent sized pop. Brown tries to eliminate Piper, but Roddy hangs on and eliminates him. Bad News goes back in, grabs Roddy by the hair and tosses him out. I never understood how that can be legal. That would lead to a WrestleMania match along with some odd face painting by Roddy. The #13 entrant is Ax of Demolition, who is now a babyface. As he’s running out, Andre eliminates the Rooster. Now he can go back to spiking his hair with red coloring. Dusty & Ax tie up Andre in the ropes and work together to double team him. With five men in the ring, the sixth one is the #14th entrant Haku, who you might also know as Meng. He was Andre’s tag partner in the Colossal Connection team managed by Bobby Heenan. They were the tag champs here. Not a whole lot happens there. We’re halfway through as #15 is the other half of Demolition, Smash. Ventura puts over how great it is that Dibiase has lasted since the #1 spot. There are no eliminations or serious threats of them. It has slowed down a bit.

It’s Akeem the African Dream that is also a One Man Gang in at #16. I love his dancing. It makes my dancing look less shitty. Bret Hart got eliminated by Dusty even though the announcers missed it. Demolition eliminates Andre with a double clothesline. That was awkward looking, but I still mark out for Andre and always will. The #17 man is “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka. No footwear of course. He’s gangsta like that. Akeem works over Snuka, then he decides to dance and Jimmy eliminates him. There’s no dancing in the Royal Rumble! Or crying in baseball. There have been a lot of double axehandles in this match. That’s a high impact move off the middle rope. It’s Dino Bravo at #18 with Jimmy Hart from Memphis who is waving the Quebec flag. Only in wrestling. This was when the WWF was manager heavy and they were all around the ring here: Heenan, Fuji, Slick, Hart and to a lesser extent, Virgil. Dibiase hangs on again. Earthquake is #19, rocking the Canada flag in the front of his lovely outfit. He’s a heel, by the way. He does some shaking and then tosses out Dusty. That’s a lot of beef. The Quakester picks up Ax and chucks him out over the top. He is a threat to win! Wow, that exchange by Smash and Bravo was very sloppy. The #20 entrant is Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, who was a babyface here as part of The Hart Foundation with Bret. Six guys team together to eliminate Earthquake. That was fun. We have six men left with another ten to enter.

The #21 man is a big name as The Ultimate Warrior enters the match to the biggest pop of the night so far. He gets attacked by Bravo, but he quickly eliminates him. They should have had him eliminate more than one guy upon his arrival because the crowd was so hot for him. In at #22 is Rick Martel, who was “The Model” by this point and a heel. He had been part of the babyface team Strike Force with Tito Santana previously. Haku eliminates Smash with a standing sidekick. Neidhart almost eliminates Martel, but he hangs on. Coincidentally, #23 is Tito Santana. Dibiase’s still in from the #1 spot and Virgil helps to keep him in the match. That’s clever. The #24 spot belongs to The Honky Tonk Man, who wins the award for best sideburns in the match. There goes Neidhart, eliminated by Martel and Warrior. Ultimate Warrior works on Dibiase and eliminates him with a clothesline. Dibiase was in for 44:47, which was by far the new record at this point. The crowd popped huge for that one. The #25 entrant is Hulk Hogan, the WWF Champion. Ever heard of him? He eliminates Snuka with a clothesline. He eliminates Haku with the big boot. Santana goes to eliminate Martel, the Model hangs on, so Warrior tosses out Tito.

We’re down to the last five entrants with Shawn Michaels at #26. Hogan tosses out Honky Tonk Man, Warrior tosses out Michaels (who lands on his feet after tumbling over the top just because he’s the man) and Warrior tosses out Martel too. The crowd is going APESHIT as Warrior faces off with Hogan. Oh the double shoulderblocks with nobody moving and then the random criss-crossing. Then a double clothesline. I love the criss-crossing thing. That’s how I think all fights should go: “Let’s run in opposite directions who the tougher man is!” It’s a bit silly right? They are both down as #27 comes out…The Barbarian. And the crowd goes…mild. Best way to describe it. Even though there’s no countdown clock, Rick Rude comes in at #28. I’m assuming they were running late, so they had to rush it a bit. That was totally random. He goes after Warrior, who he had a lengthy feud with. Nice dropkick by Rude. Warrior saves Hogan from the two heels while Jesse questions why. Jesse was so good at calling people out for their actions. The heels double team Warrior, Hogan charges in, clothesline for all and he eliminates The Warrior. So there you have a different reaction to what Warrior did. Smart booking. Warrior runs back in the ring, clotheslines Barbarian and Rude and then starts running to the back. Why? Because he’s nuts. That’s why. The #29 entrant is Hercules, who Jesse calls “mighty.” Is that a synonym for jobber? I don’t think so. There’s not a whole lot going on as we wait for the last man, who we know is Mr. Perfect. The #30 man is Mr. Perfect and Hercules eliminates Barbarian.

The final four: Hogan, Rude, Hercules and Perfect. Perfect dropkicks Hercules and Rude clotheslines Hercules out of there. The Rude/Perfect duo double team Hogan. They were very good friends from the state of Minnesota too. They go to double team Hogan, but Hulk moves. Perfect gets knocked to the apron. Hogan whips Rude in and as Perfect is trying to get in the ring the rope is pulled down, so Rude gets eliminated. Perfect gets Hogan with a boot followed by a clothesline. “Now you’re gonna see it,” yells Perfect. What exactly? We don’t know. Oh, it’s the Perfectplex. Hogan pops right up. Hulking Up time. Slingshot into the corner with Perfect hitting the post. Hogan clotheslines him a few times and throws him out over the top. Jesse can’t believe it.

Winner: Hulk Hogan

The match ended at 58:46.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

– I have read through the years about how Mr. Perfect was actually booked to win this, but Hogan got it changed. He had a lot of creative control. On the one hand, it’s a poor decision because he was already the WWF Champion, so he didn’t need the win. On the other hand ,it gave him momentum for the huge match against The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI where he would lose.

– I loved the way Dibiase was booked. He was in there for nearly 45 minutes, he eliminated just three people, but he did a great job hanging on every time he was close to being thrown out. It made his actual elimination a big deal. That’s how you build up a moment properly.

– The Dusty/Savage stuff was really fun. It would have been nice if they got a long singles match at WrestleMania instead of the mixed tag. They could have had some great matches together.

– I marked out for Earthquake. No lie. It was a ridiculously fun gimmick. The ring is shaking while he jumps. Sometimes it’s just that simple, ya know?

– Shawn Michaels was only in the match for 12 seconds? Fail.

FACTS & OPINIONS

Person that lasted the longest: Ted Dibiase at 44:47.

Most Eliminations: Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior with 6 each. They teamed up with other guys for some of them, so it’s a little tricky!

Best Performers (3): Ted Dibiase – Easy call here. He carried the first half of the match. One of my all-time favorite workers.

Hulk Hogan – I could actually tolerate him in Rumbles. They hid his deficiencies, which were the crappy matches.

Ultimate Warrior – Nobody else was booked to stand out very much.

Best Elimination: Hogan eliminating Warrior “by accident” was done remarkably well. It was a surprise and it built up the WrestleMania match. Kudos to Savage’s awesome bump too.

Match Rating: ***1/2 Good stuff. They booked it smartly early with a lot of star power and then later on built it well with the Warrior/Hogan showdown that everybody wanted. Yes I realize I mentioned that a lot. There wasn’t much else in the match except for Piper/Brown and Savage/Rhodes building.

– Sami Zayn was training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando to prepare for his return. Zayn has been out of action since June 2018 when he had surgery on both of his shoulders to repair his rotator cuffs. There’s no indication of when he might return, but training at the Performance Center is a good sign.

TJR Thoughts: Training at the Performance Center could mean a few different things including a possible return at the Royal Rumble, but he might need more time. Sami could be at the Performance Center for a longer period of time to make sure everything is right, so it could be months. We don’t know, but I am happy that he is doing well and looking forward to his return.

– Kevin Owens is expected to be cleared fairly soon after double knee surgery in October, but the plan is to not bring him back to television until after WrestleMania. As always, plans can change.

In other Owens news, as you can see above, he has lost weight as seen in that photo from a recent appearance he had.

TJR Thoughts: Owens losing weight makes sense since that’s going to be a lot easier on his body after double knee surgery. Even though Owens is a rare WWE superstar that had a gut while he wrestled, it didn’t really hurt his performances. He’s still athletic and never got tired. Perhaps with a change in his look, he’ll be even better. I think if he’s ready before WrestleMania then he should be wrestling at that show, but I know in the past WWE has held people out like Finn Balor two years ago and Samoa Joe last year.

– Yesterday we cited a PWInsider report that The Bludgeon Brothers duo of Harper and Rowan have been cleared to return to the ring, which will likely mean they will be at next week’s Smackdown. According to Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, Harper has not been medically cleared, but it “shouldn’t be far off” so it might be soon.

TJR Thoughts: My guess is they’ll get video packages hyping their return before they are back on TV.

– Sin Cara was also training at the Performance Center in Orlando along with Zayn. He has been out for several months for reconstructive knee surgery.

TJR Thoughts: He is a minor character at this point in his career. Good all around talent, but the gimmick isn’t anything special.

It was also noted by Meltzer that wrestlers on the injured list are getting the same treatment that Rey Mysterio/Daniel Bryan had earlier this decade. That means for every day they are out of action, their contracts extend for another day, so if a wrestler is out for months, that means the contracts are extended for months.

]]>https://tjrwrestling.net/wwe-injury-updates-on-kevin-owens-sami-zayn-harper-and-sin-cara/feed/0Report: The Revival Asked for Their WWE Release, Why It May Not Be Grantedhttps://tjrwrestling.net/report-the-revival-asked-for-their-wwe-release-why-it-may-not-be-granted/
https://tjrwrestling.net/report-the-revival-asked-for-their-wwe-release-why-it-may-not-be-granted/#respondThu, 17 Jan 2019 14:40:49 +0000https://tjrwrestling.net/?p=46027 […]

]]>There have been multiple sources reporting that The Revival duo of Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder have asked for their release from World Wrestling Entertainment.

It was reported by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com that there was a fear within WWE that The Revival were trying to get out of their WWE deals. Sapp didn’t say that they asked for their release because he wasn’t told that specifically, but there was a situation at Raw that led people to believe that they might be gone.

In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter (available via subscription), Dave Meltzer wrote that The Revival asked for their WWE release after they defeated Kalisto and Gran Metalik (in controversial fashion) on Monday’s Raw. It was noted by Meltzer that nobody that asks for their release is expected to be given it for obvious reasons, which is a reference to All Elite Wrestling starting as a new company.

On Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer noted that there are people in WWE that said The Revival should have just let their contracts run out and leave at that point. If you speak up the way The Revival did, it may make the situation difficult or they could sit out for an extended period of time like Neville did before he was eventually released.

In another update on the situation, PWInsider’s Mike Johnson commented on the Sapp report and added that The Revival asked for a release. Johnson noted that The Revival are still scheduled for this weekend’s live events, so if that changes then

To summarize all of that, The Revival wants out and WWE likely won’t let them go because they still have contracts. WWE doesn’t want to let talent go because it would help the new All Elite Wrestling company, which makes sense from WWE’s perspective. That’s the whole reason why you sign wrestlers to contract.

TJR Thoughts: It’s easy to see why The Revival are upset because they’ve been on the Raw roster since April 2017 and have yet to receive a substantial push on Raw. After a great run in NXT where they may be considered the best NXT Tag Team in WWE history, there hasn’t been any consistency in terms of how they are booked on the main roster.

It’s possible that WWE may do everything they can to make The Revival happy by booking them stronger in the near future. Perhaps that means they’ll win the Raw Tag Team Titles soon. Maybe they’ll get a chance to have longer matches on TV. I don’t know what might happen, but if you’re WWE, this should be an eye-opening situation that tells you that you need to book some of your wrestlers better. If not, more people are going to want to ask for their release.

If The Revival did break free from WWE and signed with AEW then they would likely face The Young Bucks, who are helping to run AEW. The teams have commented about wanting to work together on social media for years.

For now, it’s just an interesting situation to keep an eye on. Let’s see if WWE is able to make The Revival happy or if they are willing to grant the requested release.

]]>The Bludgeon Brothers duo of Harper and Rowan are ready to return to the ring as soon as next Tuesday at Smackdown in Wichita, Kansas. That’s according to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, who noted that (Erick) Rowan was at the WWE Performance Center this week in Orlando to get cleared to return to action. Everything went well there, so Harper will be returning with his partner.

The reason for the team’s absence is that Rowan had a torn biceps after the Bludgeon Brothers match with The New Day at SummerSlam 2018. That injury required surgery and the timeline was 4-6 months recovery for Rowan and that means it’s nearly five months after the surgery, so the timeline was correct. That’s the third upper body injury for Rowan in the last four years because he had a torn biceps injury in June 2015 and after he returned to action in early 2016, he suffered a shoulder injury in October 2016 that required surgery. Here’s hoping the 37-year-old big man has many injury free years ahead of him.

As for Harper, he was kept off TV while his partner Rowan was recovering from his surgery. Several months ago, it was reported that he had wrist surgery because he was seen in a cast.

The last match the Bludgeon Brothers had was an excellent match in the main event of Smackdown on August 21, 2018, when they dropped the SD Tag Team Titles to the New Day in an excellent No Disqualification Match. Rowan worked that match with a torn biceps and they went 15 minutes, so he was likely in a lot of pain even though he probably didn’t admit it.

It was also reported at the time that the Bludgeon Brothers only lost the Smackdown Tag Team Titles because of the injury. There were no plans to take the titles off them at that time.

It should be noted that while the Bludgeon Brothers will be back at Smackdown next week, it doesn’t mean they will be on the show. It’s possible that WWE will keep them on the sideline until they find the right storyline. Perhaps there will be video packages about their return since that was done in the past as well.

Analysis: That’s great news. I’ve always liked the team and they are good workers for their size, especially Harper. The term “underrated” comes to mind when people think of Harper and it should because he could be doing a lot more in WWE. At least he’s still active on Twitter reminding us what day it is.

]]>The next WWE pay-per-view is the Royal Rumble on Sunday, January 27 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

Last night on Smackdown, they announced that Rusev will defend the United States Championship against former champion Shinsuke Nakamura. So much for no automatic rematches huh? Anyway, neither guy was on Smackdown, but the match is on. They had a great match on the Christmas Smackdown when Rusev won the title, so if they get time they could do even better.

With nine matches announced including two Royal Rumble matches that will run nearly one hour each in length, some of the matches will be moved to the Kickoff Show.

]]>If you watched WWE Smackdown Live this week then you may have noticed something different about Andrade “Cien” Almas. He is no longer being called that entire name and they are just using his first name: Andrade.

The main picture I have used for this post is his WWE.com profile that reflects the name change. When the announcers referred to him during the show, they said Andrade only although I’m pretty sure I heard announcer Corey Graves say “Almas” at least once during the incredible Andrade/Rey Mysterio match. I don’t think it’s a big deal if an announcer says “Almas” once in a while since that’s what he was known as.

The Almas/Mysterio match is outstanding by the way, so please go out of your way to watch that if you missed it.

Here’s a list of some of the wrestlers that lost part of their name on the main roster:

(Antonio) Cesaro

(Alexander) Rusev

Big E (Langston)

(Adrian) Neville – He’s now in AEW as Pac.

Elias (Samson)

(Luke) Harper

(Erick) Rowan

Congrats Andrade for joining that exclusive club.

TJR Thoughts: The name shortening thing doesn’t bother me at all because it means less writing for me and I am all for that.

]]>Welcome to the TJRWrestling WWE Smackdown Live Review for this week as we continue on the road to the Royal Rumble on January 27. Here’s what is advertised for this week’s show: Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade, Sonya Deville vs. Carmella (the match was advertised and did not happen) and The Miz is hosting “The Best Birthday Bash in the World” for 49-year-old rich guy Shane McMahon.

Live from Birmingham, Alabama, this is Smackdown Live for episode #1013. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. If you want to support us at TJRWrestling, here’s a Donate Link for our Paypal where anything you send will go towards building the site. Thanks to Melo Man for the banner up top.

The show began with Becky Lynch driving up to the arena. She walked towards the arena and had no luggage with her. Kayla Braxton asked her if she’s ready for Asuka and Becky said she’ll answer that in the ring. Becky tossed Kayla her keys, but Kayla dropped them.

The New Day were shown in the parking lot with their pancakes while Otis of Heavy Machinery drank some eggs milkshake and Becky Lynch took a sip of it while everybody was impressed by her. Lynch walked to the ring.

Analysis: They even put Becky over in backstage segments with the dudes. She is booked strong these days.

Let’s Hear from Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch walked out to the ring to a big ovation and the fans chanting “Becky” for her.

Lynch said that in two weeks at Royal Rumble, she gets the chance to win back the Smackdown Women’s Title. She noted that she made that title matter and where is it now? Becky claimed that some people think it’s easy to connect with the crowd and main event while everybody is trying to be badass ever since she broke through. Lynch said that there are those that try to discredit her by saying she is hype, yet she delivers on everything that she says every single time. Lynch said that if you really want to talk about hype, Asuka walked into last year’s WrestleMania undefeated and unbeatable and yet, she lost. Lynch noted that the loss shook her to her core and she fell off the radar. Lynch said that the invincible Asuka couldn’t beat Charlotte Flair once (Lynch didn’t say Charlotte’s name but that’s who she was referring to), yet Lynch has beaten Charlotte all over the world for the last five months. Asuka’s music interrupted the promo.

Asuka made her entrance with the Smackdown Women’s Championship around her waist. She got a nice ovation from the crowd, but not as loud as Lynch. Asuka told Lynch she likes to talk and she likes hype. Asuka said that after Royal Rumble, Becky will not be in Charlotte’s shadow because she will be in Asuka’s shadow.

The Iiconics duo of Peyton Royce and Billie Kay made their entrance with microphones in hand. They haven’t been used on Smackdown for several weeks. Kay mocked Asuka for her scary faces and her threats. Royce called Becky a bully for treating Kayla like a valet. Kay said it was typical behavior from a man. Royce said that this nonsense is temporary because they are going to win the women’s Royal Rumble match and then they will be the first ever WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. They screamed while the fans booed. After that, they will make WrestleMania iconic.

Lynch asked one of them to step in the ring with her right now and she said she’ll make an example out of one of them. That led to a break.

Analysis: It was fine for an opening show promo. Lynch is still very popular with the crowd, so they gave her a big reaction for everything she did. I think they could have done a bit more to build the tension between Lynch and Asuka. Some of the Asuka dialogue was hard to understand, but they kept it short and simple for her. The Iiconics are often put in spots like this to get beat by the faces of Smackdown, which has happened for most of their run on the main roster.

(Commercial)

The match began after the break. The story is that Lynch wasn’t ready for the match, but she wanted to fight after what the Iiconics said to her.

Becky Lynch vs. Peyton Royce (w/Billie Kay)

Lynch was wrestling in jeans and her “The Man” t-shirt along with shoes that are not her usual wrestling shoes. Asuka looked on from ringside. Lynch kicked Royce out of the ring. Back in the ring, Becky hit a leaping kick on Royce followed by an armbar and Lacey Evans was shown watching the match on a TV backstage. Lynch left the ring to attack again, then when they went back in, Royce took control with punches to the back. Lynch with a knee to the ribs followed by forearms to the face, but Royce came back with a corner clothesline. Royce slapped on a chinlock. Lynch broke free with a boot to the face followed by a forearm shot to the face. They went to the floor again with Royce hitting a clothesline to take control and they went to break there.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Royce holding Lynch in a headlock while Evans was shown watching the match with a drink in her hand. I would like to drink while I type, but I really need both hands to get the details for you wonderful people. That’s why I like commercial breaks. Anyway, Lynch took down Royce with a weak looking Thesz Press followed by a Bexploder Suplex across the ring. Lynch with a kick to the chest and Royce came back with a kick to the face for a two count. Lynch countered a suplex and slapped on the Dis-Arm-Her submission for the victory after nine minutes.

Winner by submission: Becky Lynch

Analysis: *1/2 It was a below average match with some sloppy moments in there. I thought it went a few minutes too long with Royce getting in more offense than I would have expected from her. I think five minutes total for the match without a commercial break would have been better.

Post math, Asuka went into the ring for some yelling in Japanese. Asuka yelled at Billie Kay to go into the ring so that they could have a match. Kay wanted to leave, so Asuka brought her into the ring.

Asuka vs. Billie Kay

Asuka with a running hip attack and a sliding knee to the face. Asuka with an armbar submission and Kay got a rollup for two. Asuka slapped on the Asuka Lock leading to Kay tapping out to end the match in about one minute.

Winner by submission: Asuka

Analysis: No point in rating that. Squash win for Asuka.

Becky and Asuka had a staredown in the ring. Nothing happened with them as AJ Styles’ music hit as the former WWE Champion made his way down to the ring and the ladies went to the back.

Styles walked around the ring, then he jumped the barricade and walked up the steps. The show went to break with the announcers wondering what he was doing.

(Commercial)

AJ Styles was shown in the concession stand area and he did a promo like Daniel Bryan last week. Fans were chanting his name while Styles tried to talk to the camera, but they were so loud that he had to yell just to be heard. Styles said that people can do what they want, eat what they want and have a good time. Styles said that these people are no different than the fans in Phoenix when he kicks Daniel Bryan’s ass at the Royal Rumble. Styles threw some of his AJ Styles t-shirts into the crowd. Daniel Bryan showed up to attack Bryan in the concourse area of the arena. Styles picked up Bryan and slammed Bryan through a table full of food. Bryan’s clothes were full of mustard from the hot dogs. Security showed up to pull Styles off Bryan.

Analysis: Good brawl. It makes me think that the Bryan/Styles match at Royal Rumble will have a stipulation like a Street Fight or Falls Count Anywhere, but that’s just a guess at this point. I think it would be smart to differentiate it from their other matches.

The Usos were backstage doing a photo shoot. Some guy showed up with a red box. Jimmy thought it was an anniversary gift form his wife. Jey read it and it was a note from Mandy along with a Rose. There was also a hotel room key in the box. Jimmy just looked on confused about the situation and not knowing what to do.

Analysis: I think most males watching the show are very jealous of Jimmy Uso right about now.

Samoa Joe was shown walking backstage when EC3 was back there posing in front of a mirror. Joe just shook his head and kept walking because he’s in action up next.

Analysis: It would be nice if EC3 had something meaningful, but for now it’s just a cameo appearance.

(Commercial)

There was a plug for R-Truth and Carmella having a “vacation” at WWE Headquarters in Stanford, CT. There were images shown from their trip. There are videos on WWE.com and Youtube as well. The announce team is Tom Phillips, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton as usual.

Andrade and Zelina Vega were interviewed by Kayla Braxton in the interview area. Andrade said that Rey is his idol, but Andrade is the future. Vega said that it’s time to focus on the future while noting that Andrade is going to win the Royal Rumble and WWE Championship at WrestleMania.

Analysis: They have officially shortened Andrade’s name by removing the “Cien” Almas part. It doesn’t bother me, but I liked the full name. We get used to it with everybody they do it for like Rusev, Cesaro, Harper, Rowan, Neville and plenty of others in the past.

Samoa Joe entered first for the next match. Mustafa Ali was up next with a plug for 205 Live moving back to Tuesday night after Smackdown on WWE Network.

Joe attacked Ali before the bell rang while Ali was posing by the turnbuckle. Joe hit a jumping kick to the face. Joe went after Ali on the floor and he whipped him into the steel ring post. The referee told Joe to leave, so the match never started. Joe teased leaving, but then he hit Ali with headbutts. Joe yelled “do you understand” and then whipped Ali hard into the steel ring post. That was a great sell by Ali as he flipped as he took the bump and landed hard on the floor.

There were replays shown of Joe’s attack on Ali. Joe went back down to ringside and he teased giving Ali a Powerbomb into the announce table, but he changed his mind. Joe whipped Ali into the barricade at ringside. Joe left with a serious look while Ali was down and getting checked on by referees as well as a doctor.

Analysis: No match. Just an angle to put over Joe as a cheap heel while Ali sold everything really well. This should build to another match between them down the road as well as put over Joe as a threat in the Royal Rumble. They did a similar angle about a month ago with Nakamura attacking Rusev before a match, so clearly somebody on WWE’s creative team likes doing this an angle to get some heat on a heel. It was fine for what it was.

There was a shot of Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose in the locker room. Sonya wasn’t sure about Mandy giving him her hotel room key. Mandy said she wanted to make Naomi’s life miserable, so she wants to break up Naomi’s marriage. That’s why she invited Jimmy to her hotel room and she left Sonya by saying she had a date.

A replay aired of Samoa Joe attacking Mustafa Ali before the bell rang to start their match. Those bumps by Ali off the ring post were impressive.

Samoa Joe was shown walking backstage and Kayla Braxton asked about the attack on Ali. Joe said that was a statement. Joe said he’s going to win the Royal Rumble match and he claimed that any man that declares himself a champion is a target and Joe will hunt him down.

They started off with Mysterio hitting an impressive arm drag to send Andrade into the corner. They did some quick takedowns leading to one counts because they are so fast. Mysterio slapped on a side headlock. Andrade broke free and kicked Mysterio down. Andrade had a hammerlock on the left arm of Mysterio. Almas whipped Mysterio left arm first into the turnbuckle. Mysterio broke free with a headscissors off the ropes followed by another headscissors. Mysterio sent Andrade into the ropes, Rey went for the 619, Andrade avoided it and they each got two counts. Andrade went for a dropkick, Mysterio held the ropes and Mysterio hit a hurricanrana over the top to the floor, but Andrade held onto Mysterio and gave Mysterio a Powerbomb on the floor. Ouch. They went to break there.

(Commercial)

It was about ten minutes into the match with Andrade missing a double knee attack against the turnbuckle. Mysterio came back with a seated senton off the top followed by a headscissors. Andrade picked up Mysterio, but Mysterio came back with an impressive DDT for a two count. Andrade with an elbow to the head, he avoided a kick from Rey and a hip toss by Andrade sent Mysterio into the turnbuckle. Andrade with the double knee attack against the turnbuckle for a two count. Mysterio sent Andrade face first into the middle turnbuckle. Mysterio went up top, but Andrade tripped him up by the turnbuckle leading to the double foot stomp spot from Andrade by the ropes, but Mysterio escaped and sent Andrade to the apron. Mysterio up top and he hit a hurricanrana off the apron to the floor. Wow, that was incredible! Mysterio followed that up with an attack on Andrade on the floor leading to a second break.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Mysterio hitting a sunset flip Powerbomb for a two count. A clip aired from during the break with Andrade hitting a dropkick to counter Rey’s attack off the top. Andrade got a rollup for two, Mysterio with an enziguri kick an Andrade hit a back elbow to the head. Mysterio went for the Canadian Destroyer like last week, but Andrade hit a spinebuster to get out of it. Andrade up top, moonsault, Rey moved and Andrade hit another moonsault on Mysterio for a two count. The fans did the “this is awesome” chant and it should have been louder because this has been awesome. Mysterio was sent into the ropes and he hit the Canadian Destroyer that ends in a piledriver and it got a two count. That’s insane. It looked so smooth. Mysterio went for the 619, Andrade caught him and Mysterio hit a Crucifix Bomb for a two count. Mysterio sent Andrade into the ropes followed by the 619 kick to the face. Zelina went on the apron to distract and Andrade tripped up Mysterio on the top rope. Andrade wit ha Hammerlock DDT off the top rope for the pinfall win after 21 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Andrade

Analysis: ****1/4 That was an excellent, PPV quality style of match. There was a slow pace early in the match and then they really picked it up with an exciting conclusion. The right guy went over with Andrade getting the win thanks to Vega’s distraction and he’s the younger guy, so that’s the right way to book it. I was so impressed by Mysterio, who at 44 years old is moving around very well. Earlier this decade he looked past his prime in WWE, but in the last few years he dropped weight and got in great shape. It’s showing in his performances. Andrade continues to impress and I’m glad he was able to have such a long match on the main roster because he’s an outstanding in-ring performer that just needs opportunities to show what he can do. I love that the crowd was into the match and that they appreciated the good action. It’s rare to get a match over four stars on TV, but that’s what we got here. I recommend you check it out if you didn’t see it.

Man, I LOVED Andrade vs. Mysterio.

The pacing, story, athleticism, execution – everything was on point. They created genuine excitement. I hope to tear it up with these both these guys at some point.

There was a recap of Jimmy Uso getting a hotel room invitation from Mandy Rose. That led to Mandy telling her best friend Sonya Deville that she wants to make Naomi’s life miserable by breaking up her marriage to Jimmy.

There was a shot of Jimmy walking down a hotel room lobby. He took out the hotel room key and the show went to a break there.

(Commercial)

Jimmy Uso was apparently in the hallway for three minutes and he knocked on the door. Jimmy went into the room. A camera was already in the hotel room. Mandy Rose was sitting in a chair in a robe with her legs crossed and she was barefoot. She took off her robe to reveal some black lingerie. Mandy asked what he thinks and what will his wife think. Jimmy said that they can’t do this. She said that they can do this. A photographer showed up to take pictures (then he left quickly) and then she said that this isn’t about him. She said that this is about his wife. Mandy complained about Naomi while noting that she will never be as hot as Mandy. Mandy said that Jimmy knows it, Naomi knows it, Mandy knows it and everybody knows it. Mandy said when Naomi gets a look at those photos, they will ruin her entire life. Jimmy left the room and Naomi showed up. Naomi attacked Mandy and they went brawling onto the bed in the room. The women exchanged punches. Naomi won that battle until Mandy tossed her over a chair. Mandy ran out of the room barefoot as Jimmy went back in to check on his wife Naomi.

Analysis: That was unique and different from what we usually get. Mandy looked great in the lingerie and that’s something we don’t see that often in today’s WWE, but clearly, they are trying to be a bit edgier after the Alexa Bliss topless (with her hands covering up) segment on Raw. Why would they need a guy to take pictures when there’s a camera guy in the room and it’s being broadcast on a worldwide television show? I know that in WWE they don’t acknowledge the cameras, but in this case, it is pretty lame to ignore them. Anyway, it was a decent way to continue the Mandy feud with Naomi. The fight in the hotel room looked weak at times, but I get that they didn’t want to break anything in the room either, so that’s why it was pretty tame. The other story is that Jimmy didn’t go alone, he brought wife Naomi with him and that continued the storyline between the women. Mandy looked great. That’s not a bold statement by me.

There was a clip from Raw with the revealing of the Women’s Tag Team Titles along with media outlets covering the news.

The announcers mentioned the Royal Rumble and some of the matches while noting that Rusev vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the US Title has been added to the lineup.

The Miz entered for the Shane McMahon birthday bash and that’s up next after a break.

(Commercial)

The Best Birthday Bash in the World hosted by The Miz

The Miz was in the ring with birthday gifts on the table, balloons, cake, the Best in the World trophy and other stuff in the ring. Miz introduced his buddy and tag team partner Shane. It is really Shane’s birthday and he is 49 years old today.

Shane entered the ring where he thanked Miz for the birthday wishes and thanked Birmingham as the fans chanted “Happy Birthday” for him. Shane said he’s usually uncomfortable with birthday parties. Miz said this is not an average birthday because this is an arena full of Shane’s fans. Miz called Shane’s favorite bakery and they shipped Shane two specialty cakes with one of them being vanilla while the other is chocolate. There’s a picture of Shane/Miz on the vanilla cake along with the Best in the World trophy.

Miz gave Shane a present with Miz noting it’s hard to buy a gift for Shane leading to an “open it” chant. Shane opened the box and it was Jordan 33 shoes with Shane excited about it. Shane thanked him for it.

A video package aired showing some Shane McMahon career highlights including all the many highspots in his career including his “Best in the World” win at Crown Jewel. They also showed the clips of Miz convincing Shane to team with him over the last few months. It was a nice video.

Shane thanked Miz for the video. Shane said that ever since he was a kid and he’s been going to WWE events since he was that high. Shane said when he was a kid his first partner was going to be Andre the Giant, but he has to say that he’s excited about walking into the Royal Rumble (he said this Sunday, so he misspoke there because it’s two Sundays away) with Miz as his partner. They hugged. Miz said that at the Royal Rumble, Shane’s dream will come true when they capture the Smackdown Tag Team Titles. Miz said it’s time for everybody to sing Happy Birthday. Miz led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to Shane, but before they could finish the song, The Bar duo of Sheamus and Cesaro showed up to interrupt. They are the Royal Rumble opponents of Miz and Shane.

Sheamus said that was embarrassing. Cesaro noted that they didn’t invite Vince McMahon and Sheamus said that Vince didn’t want to come because he didn’t give a damn about Shane. Sheamus said that he’ll care less after Sheamus and Cesaro beat them at Royal Rumble. Shane said that Sheamus thinks he is a tough guy after he hit a Brogue Kick on Miz last week. Shane wanted Sheamus to have a match with Miz right now. Miz said that he’s not dressed to compete since he’s in a suit. Shane said he wasn’t dressed to compete when he won best in the world and Miz said if that’s what you want then they’ll do it.

Analysis: It was fine as a time killing segment to show that Shane had come around to accepting Miz as his partner, but a lot of it was filler and just took up too much time. The match setup is okay although there’s not that much time left in the show for it.

(Commercial)

There’s only about six minutes left in the show as the match began.

The Miz (w/Shane McMahon) vs. Sheamus (w/Cesaro)

The Miz was wrestling in a dress shirt and dress pants. It looked like he had his wrestling boots on, so he was ready in that way. The table with a cake was moved to out of the ring. Sheamus was in control with a running knee attack against the turnbuckle. Sheamus took off the Miz dress shirt followed by forearms to the chest. Miz got back into the ring and got a rollup, but Sheamus came back with a knee to the gut. Sheamus slapped on a side headlock. Miz got back into it when Sheamus missed a turnbuckle attack and Miz hit two running dropkicks. Sheamus came back with a forearm to the face of Miz. Cesaro got in a cheap shot on Miz while on the apron. Shane went after Cesaro and sent him through the table at ringside, which had cake on it, so Cesaro went crashing through cake. Sheamus was distracted by that, so Miz got a ROLLUP OF DEATH~! to win after four minutes.

Winner by pinfall: The Miz

Analysis: * It was a quick match with Sheamus in control for most of it and Miz only winning because of Sheamus getting distracted after Shane put Cesaro through the table. It was basic stuff here. The dreaded ROLLUP OF DEATH~! strikes again.

After the match, Sheamus attacked Miz, so Shane saved his partner with a back elbow. Miz got back up and hit Sheamus with a Skull Crushing Finale. Miz set up Shane against the turnbuckle and Shane went up top for the Coast to Coast dropkick. Miz grabbed a small cake, put it in the face of Sheamus and Shane hit a Coast to Coast dropkick into the cake into the face of Sheamus.

Shane grabbed the Best in the World trophy and he held the trophy in the ring with Miz. Shane’s music played as the duo celebrated to end the show.

Analysis: I’m not sure if this is going to lead to Miz being a face, but they might be doing that. It still feels like Miz is going to turn on Shane when they lose a big match. The story at this point is about Shane accepting Miz as his partner and going along with the idea that they can win the Smackdown Tag Team Titles at Royal Rumble. I will pick them to win the titles.

Three Stars of the Show

Andrade

Rey Mysterio

Becky Lynch

The Scoreboard

5 out of 10

Last week: 8

2019 Average: 6.67

Last 5 Weeks: 8, 7, 6.5, 7, 7

2019 High: 8 (January 8)

2019 Low: 5 (January 15)

Final Thoughts

I give this week’s Smackdown a 5 out of 10.

The highlight of this week’s show was the Almas/Mysterio match, which was one of the best TV matches in WWE in a long time. I absolutely loved it and look forward to watching it again.

The rest of the show was poor with a four-minute main event match along with a boring Shane McMahon birthday segment. The women’s segment and two matches in the first 30 minutes were not that interesting. The Mandy/Naomi/Jimmy was furthered with Mandy looking really good, but it was weak in the end. It was a below average Smackdown this week.

The next WWE pay-per-view is Royal Rumble on Sunday, January 27 in Phoenix. Here’s what we know so far.

]]>The start and stop push of Braun Strowman has been stopped again, but it’s not due to injury…apparently. Last night on WWE’s Monday Night Raw, Strowman was taken out of his advertised WWE Universal Title match against Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble because he chased Baron Corbin to the limo that Vince McMahon arrived in and Strowman ripped the door off. When Vince McMahon showed up, he was mad at Strowman and fined him $100,000. Strowman complained about that, so Vince said that Strowman’s title match at the Royal Rumble is gone and that set off an angle to replace Strowman. Shortly after that, Strowman was shown being escorted out of the building by security and that was it for Strowman on Raw.

Later on Raw in the main event, Finn Balor won a Fatal 4-Way match to earn a Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble on January 27.

The reason that WWE continued to advertise Lesnar vs. Strowman was to sell tickets as a big match, which is similar to WWE advertising Trish Stratus vs. Alexa Bliss at Evolution and then doing a tag team match instead (Alicia Fox replaced Bliss as Mickie James’ partner against Lita and Trish). Apparently, this false advertising thing is something that WWE enjoys doing and will continue to do in the future.

Balor was chosen as Lesnar’s opponent because it’s a match that hasn’t taken place yet. Another factor is that Lesnar has had very good matches with fellow smaller wrestlers like AJ Styles (Survivor Series 2017) and Daniel Bryan (Survivor Series 2018). Meltzer mentioned that Lesnar wanted to work with Balor, so that’s another reason to do it.

There were rumors of Lesnar facing Balor at last year’s Royal Rumble, but then there were reports that Vince McMahon didn’t feel like Balor was popular (or over) enough. That plan was changed to Lesnar facing Kane and Strowman, which led to Lesnar pinning Kane in a boring match.

In an update on Strowman’s elbow situation, apparently he is still not cleared to return to action yet. It’s not known when he might be cleared. Maybe he’ll be in the Royal Rumble match or maybe he’ll sit that event out completely.

To summarize this whole thing, Strowman was not replaced because he is injured. He was replaced because Vince McMahon didn’t want to beat him again and felt the need to change the match.

It’s Lesnar vs. Balor at the Royal Rumble on January 27. It would be a surprise if Balor beats Lesnar in that match, but in WWE…you never really know.

]]>There was a show long storyline this week on Raw involving the Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble. For the past month, we were told it would be Braun Strowman challenging Universal Champion Brock Lesnar for the title at Royal Rumble, but after the first 15 minutes of Raw, Strowman was removed from that spot and a new challenger would be crowned later in the night.

We should have more on why Strowman was removed tomorrow, but the belief is that his elbow injury wasn’t going to allow him to wrestle in 13 days, so WWE had to change plans.

Here’s the update on Strowman being removed from the Universal Title match: The short version of the story is that it wasn’t injury related and it was just Vince McMahon changing his mind. For the more detailed version, click the link and read the post.

It led to a Fatal 4-Way main event where Finn Balor (who beat Jinder Mahal earlier in the night) won a nearly 20-minute main event match against Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and John Cena. Balor won by pinning Cena with the Coup de Grace double foot stomp. After the match was over, Cena told Balor that he believed in him, so Cena put over Balor in the match and then on the microphone as well.

The win by Balor means he will face Brock Lesnar in one-on-one action for the first time ever on January 27th at Chase Field at the Royal Rumble. Here’s the lineup.

]]>This week on Raw, which I reviewed in detail here, World Wrestling Entertainment officially announced when and how they will crown their new Women’s Tag Team Champions. The announcement took place during Alexa Bliss’ “Moment of Bliss” segment where she stood on the stage with the new titles that you can see above and WWE.com posted a photo gallery of the titles as well.

As first announced by five-time Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss during her Raw talk show “A Moment of Bliss,” the inaugural WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions will be determined inside the dreaded Elimination Chamber at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on Sunday, Feb. 17.

Although it is still unknown which elite tandems will be selected to battle it out inside one of sports-entertainment’s most nightmarish structures to determine the first-ever titleholders, the contest will feature three teams from Raw and three teams from SmackDown LIVE.

Two teams will start the bout while the remaining four duos remain enclosed in pods. At specified intervals, a pod will open at random, enabling a new team to enter the match. This will continue until all six pairs have joined the bout. If one member of a team gets eliminated at any time via pinfall or submission, both members of the team are eliminated and must leave the contest. The last tag team standing will be declared the winner and the first-ever Women’s Tag Teams Champions.

Who will make history? Find out at WWE Elimination Chamber, Sunday, Feb. 17, streaming live at 7 ET/4 PT on WWE Network!

As we have stated in the past, WWE had Women’s Tag Team Champions in the past going back in the mid-1980s, but they are determined to ignore that and say that these are the “first-ever Women’s Tag Team Champions” in company history.

What we also don’t know is if the Women’s Tag Team Champions will be on both Raw and Smackdown or if they will be brand exclusive. I guess what they could do is say if it’s a Raw team that wins it then Smackdown would get Women’s Tag Team Titles at another time. I don’t know if that’s the case, but it’s possible.

TJR Thoughts: Now that we know how, the question becomes, who will it be? If it was up to me, Sasha Banks and Bayley are the best choice. I think putting it on them as a popular babyface tag team is the right call. There are other heel duos that would be fine like The Iiconics (Royce and Kay) or Mandy/Sonya on Smackdown, but I like the idea of Banks and Bayley as the first champions. Another possibility is the Bella Twins to return to WWE as the first champions since they worked together for so long as a duo. I wouldn’t do it, but WWE might go that way considering they produce two reality shows starring the Bellas. I’d go with Banks/Bayley as the winners.

On a final note, I think the titles look fine. Better than that damn butterfly Divas Title. That was the worst.

]]>Welcome to another edition of the WWE Raw Deal review. Now that the NFL regular season is over (go LA Rams!), plus the college football championship is over, I can get back to writing this Raw Deal review live most weeks here on TJRWrestling. With Smackdown coming the next night, there might be some weeks where one is live and the other is the next morning, but I’m going to try to go live as much as I can. It’s better for page views for the site, plus it’s better for me to get it done while it airs. People want instant analysis after all, so that’s what I try to do.

The two big matches that WWE advertised going into Raw were the Intercontinental Championship triple threat with Dean Ambrose defending against Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley after Lashley attacked Rollins last week to prevent him from winning the title. The other advertised match is Ronda Rousey teaming up with Sasha Banks against Nia Jax and Tamina.

Live Memphis, Tennessee, this is the Raw Deal for episode #1337 of Monday Night Raw. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. If you want to support us at TJRWrestling, here’s a Donate Link for our Paypal to contribute in some way to help us grow the site.

The show began with WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon arriving in a limo. He made the driver clean up a spot that he spotted on the side of the limo.

Let’s Hear from Braun Strowman

After a live shot of the crowd with Michael Cole welcoming us to the show, Braun Strowman’s music hit as the Monster Among Men walked down to the ring in his ring gear. The announcers for this show are Cole, Corey Graves and Renee Young.

Strowman was about to speak when the crowd greeted him with “Get These Hands” chants. Strowman claimed that Brock Lesnar has always been afraid of him. Strowman recapped past incidents where Lesnar was scared of him like at WWE Crown Jewel when Baron Corbin prevented Strowman from beating Lesnar for the title. Strowman told “Beasty Boy” Lesnar that he is all healed up with Strowman saying there is no one to save Lesnar. Strowman said that at the Royal Rumble, he will get the Universal Championship and the only thing Lesnar is going to get is “these hands.” Strowman led the fans in another “Get These Hands” chant.

Baron Corbin showed up for the interruption. Corbin said he may not run Raw anymore with Strowman pointing out that he got fired. Strowman led a “You Got Fired” chant at Corbin. Corbin said if he stands there for five minutes it will be longer than Strowman lasted against Lesnar. Corbin said that Strowman let them down before and he can’t beat Lesnar while Corbin claimed he would win the Royal Rumble match. Strowman left the ring and chased Corbin. That led to Corbin running backstage and Strowman went after him.

Strowman was shown walking backstage when he grabbed Sunil Singh and tossed him across a catering table. Strowman spotted a limo in the parking lot. Strowman walked down a hallway and then Elias was shown playing his guitar along with a song. Elias let Strowman know that Corbin was hiding down in that limo.

Strowman went up to the limo that was apparently the limo that Vince McMahon arrived in. Strowman grabbed the limo driver and tossed him over the hood of the limo. Poor drive. Strowman grabbed a metal pipe that happened to be nearby. Strowman smashed the window in the back of the limo and ripped the door off. Corbin went out the other side of the limo and ran away. Vince McMahon showed up wondering what happened with Strowman looking at Vince. The show went to commercial there as Graves said “there’s going to be hell to pay with Vince staring at Strowman.

Analysis: It was an adventurous start to the show with the backstage scene leading to Strowman destroying Vince’s limo. Good job of using Corbin to piss off Strowman and then they set up the commercial break spot leaving the audience to wonder what’s next. It fit Strowman’s gimmick of being an out of control madman that likes to destroy things, so at least he did something that fit his character.

(Commercial)

The show returned with Strowman and Vince outside by the limo. Strowman tried to put the door back on the limo. McMahon yelled at him for being an enraged woolly mammoth. McMahon was upset about what Strowman did to the car and said it would cost him $100,000. Strowman said that this piece of crap is not worth $100,000. Vince said that just for talking back at hime like that, the Universal Championship match with Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble is not happening now. McMahon left, so Strowman tried picking up the limo, there were multiple angles of the stunt and Strowman tossed the limo over. Strowman left angrily.

Analysis: The real story is that Strowman’s elbow injury and surgery will continue to keep him out of action for January 27 at the Royal Rumble, so WWE used this storyline to take Strowman out of the Rumble match against Lesnar. It’s unfortunate, but with the elbow surgery that Strowman had, there was always the concern that he wouldn’t be able to compete at the Royal Rumble. Strowman’s surgery was to remove bone chips from his elbow and not a “shattered elbow” like WWE said it was. For a guy as big as him, maybe it didn’t heal as fast as WWE would have hoped, so they are being smart about it to keep Strowman out of the Lesnar match. There could be a whole other reason like WWE changed their mind, so there is that option too. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t think Strowman was going to win the Universal Title at the Royal Rumble anyway.

UPDATE: Here’s the update on Strowman being removed from the Universal Title match: The short version of the story is that it wasn’t injury related and it was just Vince McMahon changing his mind. For the more detailed version, click the link and read the post.

Ronda Rousey entered first for the women’s tag team match followed by her Royal Rumble opponent, Sasha Banks. They were followed by Team Excitement (I gave them that name) of Nia Jax and Tamina. That begins after a break.

(Commercial)

There was a shot of Braun Strowman shown walking backstage with security following him and Strowman walked out the door to leave the building. Baron Corbin showed up laughing about what happened.

Analysis: It looks like the Strowman vs. Corbin feud will pick up whenever Strowman gets back in the ring.

Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax and Tamina

Banks used her speed to take control early as she jumped on Jax’s back with a sleeper attempt, but Jax tossed Banks off her back easily. Banks with a knee strike to the head followed by a bulldog and a running knee for a two count. Rousey tagged in with punches, but Jax put Rousey against the turnbuckle and Tamina tagged in with a headbutt. Rousey went for an armbar, but Jax pulled Tamina out of the ring. Banks attacked Jax off the apron while Tamina continued to stall and the show went to break about four minutes into this match.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Banks as the face in peril as Jax hit a powerbomb and a rolling attack. Jax slapped on a chinlock while a 15-second commercial aired for the movie Glass with Jax still holding the chinlock. They time those ads well. Banks got a rollup for two on Tamina, who tagged back in. Tamina with a cheap shot that knocked Rousey off the apron. Banks kicked Tamina and Banks slapped on the Bank Statement submission on Tamina and Tamina tapped out for the submission win after 10 minutes.

Winners by submission: Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks

Analysis: *1/2 It was a boring match with Banks not tagging out to Rousey and getting the win even as the face in peril, which is not common in a tag team match like that. The announcers didn’t put over the story of Banks not tagging out. Normally when Rousey is in a tag match she gets the win, so this was done to give Banks some momentum.

Rousey and Banks were interviewed by Charly Caruso in the ring. Rousey talked about how great it was to team with Banks. Rousey said that a win over Banks would be the best thing she could do as champion so far. Banks didn’t like that comment, then Rousey said she’ll tap Banks out at Royal Rumble and Banks said she tapped out Jax and Tamina. Banks told Rousey she can lose with class. Rousey and Banks continued to argue with Banks saying that she’s not scared of her while telling Rousey that the only loser will be her and Ronda can bank on that. Banks left while Rousey was left in the ring. Rousey left the ring to go up to Banks in the aisle. Banks told Rousey she’s the best around here and Banks did the “4” hand sign for the Four Horsewomen of WWE. Rousey chased after Banks.

Analysis: I like the way Banks stood up for herself when Rousey talked about how she was going to make Banks tap out. Banks should get upset by it. That’s a way to create some tension between the two women before their face vs. face match in less than two weeks. Banks flashing the “4” hand sign was a nice nod to her Four Horsewomen group with Charlotte, Becky and Bayley while Rousey has her foursome (Baszler, Duke, Shafir), so that’s something to think about later in the year perhaps.

There was a lineup of superstars outside of Mr. McMahon’s door. Jerry Lawler walked out of the office because they were in Memphis where Jerry lives and the crowd popped for Lawler being on camera. No Way Jose and his crew showed up dancing.

A commercial aired for Total Bellas on Sunday.

(Commercial)

The show returned with Natalya and Bayley backstage as they tried to separate their friends Ronda and Sasha from arguing. Natalya and Bayley separated the women, which led to Natalya and Bayley bickering about the situation. The Riott Squad showed up to make fun of them with Liv calling Bayley a “sad face emoji.” Riott said they like taking a bad situation and making it worse. Riott challenged them to a tag team match if they can find a third woman to team with.

Analysis: The creative team loves booking women to bicker on this show. The “sad face emoji” trash talk is representative of how lame the writing is on this show. Adults don’t speak like that.

The Lucha House Party entered for a match. The Revival did a quick promo to set up the match.

The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) vs. Lucha House Party (Kalisto and Gran Metalik) w/Kalisto

No more Lucha House Rules is a good thing. Kalisto took down Wilder with an arm drag, Metalik tagged in and slammed Kalisto onto Wilder for a two count. Dawson tagged in, he held Kalisto and Wilder hit a dropkick. Dasha Fuentes was shown outside Vince McMahon’s office saying there’s a developing story about who will face Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble. Apollo Crews did an interview about wanting an opportunity. Curt Hawkins was there too. EC3 was also there making his Raw debut. The match was going on while this was happening with Kalisto kicking Dawson away. Wilder tagged in, Metalik tagged in with a cross body block and a headscissors takedown. Metalik dropkick on Dawson. Double team suplex by the Revival, but Kalisto saved his partner with a roll through kick to the head. Dawson decked Kalisto with a clothesline. Metalik with a sunset flip on Dawson for two. Dawson with a DDT by the ropes, Metalik’s foot was on the ropes and Wilder pushed the foot off the rope, so the referee counted the pin to give The Revival the win after four minutes.

Winners by pinfall: The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder)

Analysis: *1/2 A quick match to give The Revival a win after some cheap losses against Gable/Roode in the last few weeks. The finish was weak since it’s only a DDT and you see a DDT in nearly every match in WWE, yet this one was able to win a match. I didn’t like the interviews with wrestlers during the match. It takes away from the action in the ring and I don’t like seeing that.

Back to Dasha at Vince’s office, Vince showed up and said he’ll make his announcement in the ring.

(Commercial)

Let’s Hear from Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon made his entrance to a big ovation from the crowd. He walked out there with a lot of energy and a suit. Vince was about to speak, but he was interrupted by a familiar song…it’s John Cena.

Cena entered the ring with McMahon. Cena said that we all know Vince just lost his Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, so Vince is here right now to ask somebody to step up. Cena said 20 years ago when everybody left this man high and dry like Steve Austin, The Rock, Brock Lesnar – he didn’t know what to do. (It was less than 20 years ago by the way.) He claimed that Vince begged somebody to step up, Cena told him to give him a chance and he will not let him down. Cena said Vince gave him a chance, Cena didn’t let him down and more chances with Cena noting that he missed birthdays and funerals for this. Cena said that stepping up here is making this your life and loving every second of it. Cena told Vince to give him a chance because he will not let him down and Cena will be the 17-time WWE Champion. Cena said that he has something that no other WWE superstar has…ruthless aggression. That “ruthless aggression” phrase is what WWE used in the mid-2000s to define that era.

Drew McIntyre showed up for the interruption. McIntyre walked down to the ring saying he didn’t care about Cena’s 16 Championships, his new movies or whatever book he is currently writing. McIntyre complained about Cena standing in the ring with a straight face claiming that he still had ruthless aggression. McIntyre got in Vince’s face to say that this is what ruthless aggression looks like. McIntyre told Cena that his time is up and told Vince that his time is now. McIntyre says that just like Stone Cold, The Rock and Lesnar, Cena can leave.

Baron Corbin was the next man up in this interruption party. Corbin claimed that his life was threatened by Braun Strowman earlier tonight. He got into the ring saying that what’s best for business is that McMahon gives Corbin a Universal Championship match against Brock.

Finn Balor also joined the festivities saying he’s tired of being left out of these conversations. Balor said that he’s the only person out there that has ever been the Universal Champion. Vince told Balor he’s got extraordinary ability and speed, but against Brock Lesnar, he doesn’t know if he can beat Brock Lesnar. Balor told Vince he (Vince) never believed in him (Finn), but those people (the fans) do. Balor said he knows Vince is stubborn and nothing Balor says will change his mind, so let Balor show Vince. Balor punched Corbin and McIntyre knocked Cena down. McIntyre hit Balor with a Claymore Kick and he knocked down Cena with a Claymore Kick.

Vince said that he likes this. Vince said that we will find out tonight who will face Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. Vince left the ring with McIntyre standing tall.

Analysis: It was a fine way to set up a match for later. McIntyre continues to look impressive while Balor had a lot of crowd support. I think there was some truth in Balor saying that Vince doesn’t believe in him as much as the people and the booking of his character is proof of that.

Still to come: Triple threat IC Title match, Alexa Bliss talk show with Paul Heyman as the guest and Natalya teams with Bayley against The Riott Squad up next.

(Commercial)

There was a shot of Vince walking backstage with Jinder Mahal walking up to him. Mahal wondered why he wasn’t considered for the Fatal 4-Way match. Mahal pleaded his case while noting that he would have went out there, but Sunil Singh was attacked by Strowman earlier. McMahon said that Mahal can pick one of the guys that was in the ring earlier and if Mahal can beat him, he can take his spot in the 4-Way match. Mahal said he’ll choose Finn Balor and Vince wished him good luck.

Analysis: The twists and turns continue. Remember, this is a long show where they have a lot of time to kill.

The heel trio of the Riott Squad were out first for the six-woman tag. Bayley was up next, Natalya is on her team and Nikki Cross is making her Raw debut as their partner. It was noted by Cole that the “new” stars are not being assigned to a specific show yet, so they can appear on both brands until it is determined in the future.

Analysis: Nikki Cross is a very talented and experienced wrestler from Scotland. She’ll do well on the main roster wherever she ends up.

Cross with a dropkick on Logan, Morgan tagged in and Cross did a hair toss. Riott tagged in as all six women faced off with Nikki told her teammates that she wanted to play. Cross tackled Riott and the heels left the ring, so Bayley and Natalya hit sliding dropkicks. Cross used the apron to trap Riott and destroyed Riott with forearms to the chest as the show went to break.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Bayley hitting a cross body block on Logan, but Logan came back with a knee to the back. Morgan tagged in with a move where she slammed Bayley face first into the mat. Morgan hit a dropkick to the back of Bayley for a two count. Logan slapped on a chinlock on Bayley and sent Bayley into the turnbuckle. Bayley sent Logan face first into the turnbuckle. Bayley broke free and tagged in Natalya, who hit a dropkick and German Suplex on Logan followed by a spinning clothesline. Natalya slammed Logan face first into the mat for a two count with Riott breaking up the pin. Bayley took out Riott with a running knee Morgan with a hurricanrana on Natalya and Cross made the save. Morgan kicked Natalya into the turnbuckle, Cross tagged in and hit a clothesline off the top onto Morgan as Natalya held her. Cross with a neckbreaker on Logan. Natalya with a German Suplex on Riott. Cross with a bulldog on Riott and Cross hit a monkey flip on Logan leading to a Natalya dropkick. Cross hit a running cross body block on Riott on the floor. Morgan sent Cross in the ring, she got a rollup for two and Bayley tagged back in. Cross hit a neckbreaker off the ropes. Bayley went up top and hit a flying elbow on Morgan for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Bayley, Natalya and Nikki Cross

Analysis: **3/4 It was a standard women’s tag team match on Raw. It feels like a repeat every week. I thought Cross should have got the win for her team in her Raw debut, but it’s not a big deal. I liked some of the teamwork shown by Cross and Natalya. Cross showed a lot of energy and the crowd was behind her. Cross can be an effective character as a heel or face.

Finn Balor was shown walking backstage. He walked by Dana Brooke and Mickie James talking to Lacey Evans, so that’s her Raw debut.

Jinder Mahal made his entrance with Samir Singh. No Sunil Singh because Braun Strowman threw him across a table earlier in the night.

(Commercial)

Dean Ambrose did a backstage promo where he complained about having to defend the title in a triple threat match. He said that nobody, especially Seth Rollins, is going to take away his title.

Analysis: It was a very generic heel promo with a champion complaining about having to defend a title.

Finn Balor made his entrance. Before Balor could enter the ring, Mahal attacked him outside the ring. Mahal whipped Balor into the barricade and into the side of the ring apron. Mahal sent Balor into the ring, the referee checked on Balor and Balor said it was okay to ring the bell to start the match.

Jinder Mahal (w/Samir Singh) vs. Finn Balor

The bell rang with Mahal hitting a kick to the face for a two count. Mahal continued his boring offense, Balor hit a dropkick and a kick while they battled on the apron. Balor went for a kick to Mahal on the apron, but Mahal caught his foot and slammed Balor face first into the mat. That led to a break.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Mahal still in control with multiple knee drops to Balor’s chest. Mahal with a hard whip into the turnbuckle. Balor countered a suplex into a cover for a two count. Balor got some momentum going with an overhead kick to the head. Balor with a forearm to the head followed by a double foot stomp to the chest of Mahal. Balor with a running dropkick to send Samir out of the ring and Balor hit a back body drop to send Mahal out of the ring. Balor hit a somersault dive over the top to take out Mahal on the floor. Balor hit a Slingblade on Mahal, a running dropkick and Balor went up top with the Coup de Grace double foot stomp to Mahal’s chest for the pinfall win after 10 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Finn Balor

Analysis: **1/2 It was a solid match with Mahal controlling 80% of the match and Balor hitting all his signature spots in the last two minutes. The crowd was firmly behind Balor. This was done to tell the story of Balor as the underdog in the 4-Way match that is going to have to find a way to win the match.

This means that Balor is still in the Fatal 4-Way with McIntyre, Cena and Corbin. I thought Balor would win when it was announced and even moreso after he had to face Mahal.

Lio Rush did a cell phone promo hyping up Bobby Lashley’s match with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose saying that Lashley will collect the Intercontinental Championship.

Dean Ambrose entered with the Intercontinental Title match. Renee Young complained about Lashley in this IC Title match saying that she didn’t think Lashley earned it. Graves said that her hubby’s title might go bye-bye and that’s up next.

(Commercial)

There was a glass shattering moment video about Shawn Michaels turning on Marty Jannetty and tossing him through the Barber Shop window. It was from January 1992. It’s sponsored by the movie Glass, which WWE promoted heavily all night long.

Bobby Lashley made his entrance with Rush wearing an “All Mighty” shirt and the back of the shirt says “Lashley” on it several times.

Seth Rollins was interviewed behind the curtain by Charly Caruso. He said you never know what chance will be your last, so you need to make the most of your opportunities. Rollins mentioned that his buddy Roman Reigns announced his leukemia and then a few hours later, Ambrose betrayed that embrace the Shield shared while noting they had six years of friendship. Rollins was impressed by Lashley’s physique, but what matters is what you do bell to bell and Rollins said nobody can compete with him bell to bell. Rollins said he’ll lay it on the line and take back his IC Title. Rollins was up next and he got a big pop from the crowd as usual.

Analysis: The promo was fine, but the problem with the “six years of friendship” line was that they spent a few years fighting eachother when Rollins was a heel that turned on Ambrose and Reigns. The fans know that, but WWE writing likes to skip the facts sometimes.

The wrestlers stood in the ring while ring announcer Mike Rome introduced the three competitors since it is a championship match.

Rollins was in control early with a cross body block on Ambrose off the top rope. Rollins tried to slam Lashley, but Ambrose got involved with punches on Rollins. Ambrose tried to work with Lashley as Lashley whipped Rollins into the turnbuckle. Lashley with a suplex on Rollins. Ambrose held Rollins as Lashley punched Rollins in the ribs. Ambrose hit a running forearm on Rollins. Lashley with a running shoulder tackle to the ribs of Rollins. Lashley missed a corner charge when Rollins moved, but when Rollins ran the ropes, Lashley decked him with a spinebuster. Ambrose shoved Lashley out of the ring, Rollins with a cradle on Ambrose for two and Rollins hit a suicide dive to take out both heels on the floor. Rush in the ring, Rollins tried to get him, but Rush avoided it and Lashley hit a spinebuster on Rollins on the floor. Ambrose tried to attack Lashley, but Lashley hit an overhead belly to belly suplex on Ambrose on the floor. That led to a break about six minutes into the match.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Rollins and Ambrose briefly working together against Lashley to keep the big man down. Double team clothesline Rollins and Ambrose sent Lashley out of the ring. Rollins and Ambrose used the top half of the steel steps to knock Lashley down. Rollins and Ambrose battled with punches leading to Rollins hitting a Falcon Arrow slam for two as Rush went into the ring to break up the pin in this match with no disqualification and no countout in triple threats. Rush tried to attack Rollins, but Rollins avoided that and Ambrose kicked Rush out of the ring. Rollins with a superkick on Ambrose, Lashley back in with a clothesline that sent Rollins out of the ring and Lashley covered Ambrose for two. Ambrose with a kick to Lashley, then an eye poke and Rollins back in with a clothesline off the top. Rollins with a step up enziguri kick to Lashley’s head. Rollins with a Frog Splash off the top on Lashley. Ambrose dumped Rollins out of the ring and covered Lashley for two. Ambrose sent Rollins out of the ring for a two count of his own. Some fans started a “this is awesome” chant although it wasn’t that loud. Rollins went up to Ambrose on the top rope, Lashley put Rollins on his shoulders and Ambrose hit a clothesline like Legion Of Doom. Rollins landed on his feet. Rollins with superkicks to Lashley and Ambrose. Rush held down the top rope to send Rollins over the top to the floor. Lashley hit a Spear on Ambrose and Lashley covered Ambrose for the pinfall win after 15 minutes. New champion!

Winner by pinfall and New Intercontinental Champion: Bobby Lashley

Analysis: ***1/2 That was a pretty good match with a bit of a surprising title change since Ambrose only had the IC Title for one month. Going into it, I thought Ambrose would keep the title, but I have no issue with the title change either. A guy like Ambrose really doesn’t need that title. It’s the first time Lashley has held the title, so it feels like a bigger deal for him. They told a believable story with Lashley and Ambrose working together as heels against Rollins early, but then ego got in the way and it broke down. Rollins came close to winning a few times. In the end, Rush played a factor by sending Rollins out of the ring and Lashley capitalized for the win. It’s a bit of a cheap ending that was fitting for a new heel champion.

Post match, Lashley celebrated the win with Rush. It is Lashley’s first time as Intercontinental Champion.

Alexa Bliss is up next with A Moment of Bliss. Graves asked why Renee was quiet and she didn’t say anything about her husband losing.

There was a shot of Alexa Bliss’ dressing room and a guy showed up with her latte. The guy knocked on the door of her room, but no answer. He went in the room to see that she had her hands covering her breasts with her top underneath her hands. She got mad at him for entering the room. He put the latte down on a table and left.

Analysis: A woman covering her breasts with her hands? The Attitude Era is back! Kidding. Really, I am.

A video aired about the movie Glass, which WWE has promoted all show long.

(Commercial)

A Moment of Bliss with Paul Heyman as the Guest

Alexa Bliss walked out onto the stage for her talk show called “A Moment of Bliss.” She announced that the Women’s Tag Team Champions will be crowned at Elimination Chamber next month when three teams from Raw and three teams from Smackdown will compete in the Elimination Chamber to determine the first champions. Bliss unveiled the new titles, which are white and they looked good.

Analysis: I think the Elimination Chamber is a good way to debut them. We still don’t know if they will be on both Raw and Smackdown or there will be separate titles. I guess that can be determined at a later date where if a Raw team wins then they can add new Tag Team Titles and vice versa.

Paul Heyman introduced himself and said it was an honor to be her guest. Heyman reminded us he was the advocate for Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. Heyman talked about the Fatal 4-Way match for later while going over the four wrestlers in the 4-Way match later in the show. Heyman talked about John Cena as the guy that Lesnar built Suplex City on. Heyman said they all should have their eyes on Drew McIntyre, who can be a future Universal Champion, but just not now. When Heyman wondered if it might be Baron Corbin, the Heavy Machinery tag team member Otis Dozovic wandered onto the stage. Otis did some funny mannerisms as his partner Tucker Knight tried to calm him down. Bliss said that is a Moment of Bliss, not a Moment of Otis. Referees and producer Adam Pearce showed up to take Otis to the back. The talk show ended there.

Analysis: There wasn’t much to the talk show after the Women’s Tag Team Titles announcement. I’d rather see Otis in tag team action instead of a segment like that, but it’s a way to show off his quirky character.

Ring announcer Mike Rome announced that it was time for the Fatal 4-Way main event and that led to a break.

(Commercial)

This week on Smackdown: The Miz hosts a birthday party for Shane McMahon.

The entrances took place for the main event: Finn Balor was up first followed by Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and John Cena was up last.

The winner faces Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble for the Universal Championship. No countouts or disqualifications in a 4-Way match.

Cena and McIntyre went brawling out of the ring. Balor went up top against Corbin right away, but Corbin caught him and hit a Chokeslam backbreaker. Cena faced off with Corbin and McIntyre as the show went to break.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Corbin going shoulder first into the ring post. Balor hit a running dropkick on McIntyre outside the ring. Balor went for a running attack, but Corbin punched Balor off the apron. Cena jumped off the middle ropes with a DDT on Corbin for two as McIntyre broke up the pin. Cena hit two running shoulder tackles on McIntyre, plus a spinning slam. Cena connected with the Five Knuckle Shuffle fist drop. Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on McIntyre for two as Corbin broke up the pin. Balor went back into the ring for a double team suplex with Cena on Corbin. Cena and Corbin set up for a double team superplex, which set up McIntyre to slam Cena and Balor down. McIntyre set up for a superplex on Corbin, but Corbin crotched him on the top rope to send McIntyre upside down in the Tree of Woe. McIntyre powered back up as he slammed Corbin down. Nice show of strength by McIntyre there.

(Commercial)

Balor went for an attack on the guys on the floor, but Corbin went back in the ring and hit End of Days on Balor. McIntyre broke up a pin attempt. McIntyre with a Glasgow Kiss headbutt on McIntyre. Cena went up top and went for the leg drop, but McIntyre countered to a Powerbomb. It’s crazy that 41-year-old movie star Cena is still doing that spot and taking that bump, so give him credit for busting his ass out there. All four guys staggered to their feet leading to a slugfest. Cena and Balor cleared the ring, Balor boots to the face of Cena and Balor went up top, but Cena punched him to stop Balor’s momentum. Cena went to the middle ropes going for the Attitude Adjustment, you could see Cena talked to Balor about what spot was next and Cena hit the AA off the middle rope. Corbin snuck back into the ring, pushed Cena out of the ring and covered Balor for a two count with Balor kicking out. Corbin grabbed a chair and hit McIntyre in the ribs with it. It took 17 minutes for somebody to grab a chair. Corbin stood over Balor with the chair and hit Balor in the back with the chair two times leading to a two count from Corbin as Cena broke up the pin. Corbin punched Cena in the ribs. Cena countered Corbin’s attack with the Attitude Adjustment. McIntyre with a Claymore Kick on Cena. Balor with a leaping DDT on McIntyre to send him out of ther ing. Balor went up top and hit a Coup de Grace double foot stomp on Cena for the pinfall win after 19 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Finn Balor

Analysis: ***3/4 Great match. The right guy went over in Balor and he also pinned the right guy by beating Cena, who did the right thing by putting Balor over like that. Kudos to Cena for that and whoever decided that was the finish because they got it right. The match was well booked will all four guys getting a chance to shine, there were several finishing moves and believable nearfalls, but it was Balor that found a way to get the job done. Balor wrestled for over 30 minutes on this show, yet he found a way to get the job done. That’s how you book a babyface with a lot of heart. The fans love Balor as much as ever and when he hit that Coup de Grace, the place went wild. Perfect finish and exactly the reaction that WWE wanted too.

John Cena did a post match promo to Finn Balor saying that earlier tonight, Balor proved himself. Cena noted that Vince McMahon said he didn’t believe in Balor, but Balor said that the people believe in him. Cena said that he believes in Balor. Cena told Balor to give Lesnar hell at the Royal Rumble. Cena raised Balor’s hand in the air and gave him a hug. Balor posed to end the show.

Analysis: That was great too. Cena verbally putting over Balor is huge for him. It’s the definite of giving a guy “the rub” as they say in wrestling. Cole was quick to call Cena the greatest of all time, so that puts it in the mind of the fans that the greatest guy of all time (in WWE’s eyes) is saying Balor is ready for Lesnar.

Do I think Balor will beat Lesnar for the Universal Title at Royal Rumble? Absolutely not. I think it will be a competitive match where Balor falls short, but it will be fun to watch. I think Lesnar loses the title to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, which is fine with me.

Three Stars of the Show

Finn Balor

John Cena

Seth Rollins

The Scoreboard

7.5 out of 10

Last week: 5.5

2019 Average: 6.5

Last 5 Weeks: 5.5, 6.5, 5.5, 5.5, 5, 4.5

2019 High: 7.5 (January 14)

2019 Low: 5.5 (January 7)

Final Thoughts

I give this week’s Raw a 7.5 out of 10.

That was a pretty good Raw with some quality in-ring action all night long. The last hour was awesome because the main event went 20 minutes with a lot on the line as Finn Balor got a big win and then the IC Title match at the top of the third hour was really good too. That was 35 minutes for two matches in that last hour and both matches were awesome. We don’t get to see that very often on Raw, so I’m glad that WWE gave us that this week.

I wasn’t tired watching this show at all. There were some promos, but they weren’t that long and everything seemed to make sense. The storyline explanation to take Strowman out of the Rumble match was good enough without having Vince take a bump. It sucks for Braun, but it ended up being a great story by the end of the night with Finn Balor standing tall.

This was the kind of show that Raw can be if they focus on the in-ring action more and cut out some of the goofy shit they tend to do. I liked this Raw a lot.

Here’s the lineup for the Royal Rumble on January 27 from Chase Field in Phoenix.

]]>This edition of Smackdown followed up on a great Raw that saw Triple H beat The Rock and Big Show in a triple threat match for the WWF Title. After that match was over, Linda McMahon announced that those three guys would be in a Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match for the WWF Title at WrestleMania 2000 along with another man…Mick Foley. The same Mick Foley that “retired” from the WWF at No Way Out one month earlier was back for one more shot at the WWF Title.

Check out our WWF in 2000 archives for my reviews of all the other shows from earlier in the year. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport if you’re not doing so already and let’s get started.

There was a nearly four minute video package recapping the key things from Monday’s Raw. The Smackdown intro video aired after that.

There was a shot of the loud crowd in Milwaukee with signs all over and the pyro went off to kick off the show. The announcers were the usual Smackdown team of Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.

Let’s Hear from Triple H, Stephanie McMahon…and others

Triple H, the WWF Champion, walked out with wifey Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. Triple H was looking as angry as ever while Stephanie looked hot. This was a year before she got the breast implants (which WWE acknowledged on TV).

Triple H started his promo as the fans chanted “slut” at Stephanie. He said that Stephanie will not just rock the WWF, but knock it from its very foundation. Hunter said he’s got a question that he needs answered. He summarized what happened on Raw where he said that if they did the match on Raw, it would not happen again at WrestleMania and the promise was made from Vince McMahon. Hunter said he did what he always did by proving to the world that he’s that damn good because he beat Big Show and Rock. As he walked out of the ring with the WWF Championship still in his possession, he was met by another McMahon waiting to screw him by making the Fatal 4-Way at WrestleMania. It took Triple H about one minute to summarize all of it, but he got through it. The fans chanted “Foley” and cheered when Hunter said his name. Hunter asked who Linda McMahon thinks she is. Hunter called Linda to come out there right now. He even called her “mom” and yelled “get your ass out here” now.

Linda McMahon appeared on the stage for one of her monotone promos. She was the CEO of the WWF at the time. She noted that she had just as much stroke around here as much as anybody. She said since Mick Foley had a lifelong dream to be in the main event of WrestleMania, she made that Fatal 4-Way Elimination match. Linda noted that she’ll be in Foley’s corner at WrestleMania. She said that Foley is coming back for one night and one night only.

Triple H responded by saying that he doesn’t believe that Foley is back for one night. He wondered what happened if Foley could win that match and then what happens?

Linda responded said that she thinks Mick Foley will win the match at WrestleMania and he would go out on top by retiring as the WWF Champion. That would mean the title would be declared vacant and a tournament would be held all the way to Backlash where a new champion would be crowned.

Hunter said she was wasting her time. He talked about what he’s going to do by beating Rock first because he hates him the most, then Big Show and he’ll wait for Foley for the end for Linda because it’s her idea to bring Foley back. Hunter said when he beats Foley at WrestleMania where he can’t remember where he lives or who his kids are, it will be on Linda’s conscience. He told Linda she can push his wheelchair and feed him when he can’t talk. Triple H’s rambling promo led to him saying that it will dawn on Mick Foley that Linda is a cold-hearted bitch. Linda left. This segment ended after 19 minutes.

Analysis: It was fine for an opening promo segment with the usual Triple H rambling that took too much time. I like that they did a good job of explaining what would happen if Foley won the title at WrestleMania. Sometimes WWE does a good job with the “what if” stuff like they did here, but other times they completely ignore it as well. The big thing was Triple H calling his own mother-in-law a bitch. Big heat for that.

There was a shot of Ivory giving Crash Holly a massage on a table backstage. She called in referee Teddy Long and she broke a glass candy jar on his head leading to a two count. Crash was only wearing a towel, so he ran away with the Hardcore Title.

Analysis: A nice reminder of how creative they got with the Hardcore Title defenses.

(Commercial)

Kurt Angle entered with the Intercontinental and European Championships around his waist. Angle complained about having to put up both titles against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit at WrestleMania in a “two falls, triple threat match” for both titles. He ripped on the inbreds of Wisconsin by saying that it was a conspiracy. He said he’ll give Benoit a taste of what he can expect at WrestleMania.

Chris Benoit made his entrance. Chris Jericho also went down to ringside for the match to join the announcers.

Analysis: I love how the announcers act shocked that somebody sits down with them to watch a match when a chair is placed beside them at ringside. Can we not book announcers like idiots all the time? Thanks.

Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit

Pre-match notes: They were both heels. Neither of Angle’s titles was on the line in this match.

Benoit hit Angle with a dropkick that sent Angle out of the ring. Jericho did a Mr. Roboto imitation of Benoit. Angle hit a belly to belly suplex to send Benoit across the ring. Angle hit a suplex on Benoit while Bob Backlund was shown watching the match backstage. Angle hit a clothesline leading to “Angle sucks” chants from the crowd. Benoit with three rolling German Suplex on Angle with Angle getting his foot on the middle ropes. Angle knocked down Benoit with a headbutt. Angle grabbed one of his titles, Jericho grabbed another title and Jericho hit Angle in the head with the title. Jericho hit Benoit with the title as well. It went 3:17.

Winner by disqualification: Kurt Angle

Analysis: *3/4 It was good while it lasted, but it was mostly done for the storyline of building to their triple threat match at WrestleMania. There would be many more great Angle vs. Benoit matches in the years to come.

Post match, Jericho slapped the Walls of Jericho on Angle. Referees went into the ring to try to get Jericho to stop. Jericho also put the Walls of Jericho on Benoit.

Analysis: It was payback for Jericho after Angle attacked Jericho and Benoit on Raw earlier in the week.

Vince McMahon was interviewed by Kevin Kelly with Vince saying that he thinks Stephanie is pregnant and in nine months she’ll deliver a baby anteater. Vince said he’s excited about being in Rock’s corner at WrestleMania. He said that at WrestleMania, there will be a WWF Tag Team Titles match there will be a triangle Ladder Match against the Hardys and Edge and Christian. Vince put Bubba Ray Dudley in a match against The Rock.

Analysis: That was an awkward promo at the start, but it was good when he announced the triangle ladder Ladder Match at WrestleMania, which was an outstanding match.

(Commercial)

There was a shot of Al Snow and Steve Blackman milking a cow because Snow wanted Blackman to get close to his cheese roots. When Steve went to milk the cow, the milk went on Steve’s face. Steve left, went back in and the idea was that he hit the cow with one of his baton sticks, which was not shown. Snow and Blackman left.

Analysis: Bad WWF comedy, but some of Snow’s lines were funny.

The Godfather vs. Bull Buchanan

Pre-match notes: Godfather was the face and Buchanan was the heel. Big Boss Man was not allowed at ringside.

Godfather with a boot to the face followed by a back body drop and a clothesline that sent Buchanan over the top to the floor. Godfather whipped Buchanan into the steel steps. Back in the ring, Buchanan jumped to the top rope and hit a clothesline. Buchanan hit a scissors kick for a two count. Godfather tried to send Buchanan out of the ring, but Bull held on, did the skin the cat spot and hit a belly to back suplex. Bull missed an elbow drop, Godfather hit two clotheslines and a running kick to the face. Godfather whipped Bull into the turnbuckle when the Big Boss Man showed up with a nightstick to the ribs of Godfather for the DQ. It went 2:44.

Winner by disqualification: The Godfather

Analysis: 1/2* It was a boring match with a predictable finish. They did do a good job of showcasing some of Bull’s athleticism. That made him stand out a bit, but he never seemed to put it all together as a complete wrestler.

Buchanan and Boss Man attacked Godfather with nightsticks. After about 30 seconds of that, they stopped. That was the end of it.

Crash Holly and Hardcore Holly were backstage talking prior to their match with Crash worried about his Hardcore Title. Hardcore assured him that everything would be okay.

(Commercial)

Al Snow and Steve Blackman vs. Hardcore Holly and Crash Holly

Pre-match notes: Snow and Blackman were the faces while the Hollys were heels, but Crash was cheered as the Hardcore Champion.

Snow held up a “Head Cheese” sign at the start of the match. Hardcore with a dropkick on Blackman. Snow hit a knee to the back of Crash and Blackman hit a kick to the head. Fans chanted “Let’s go Head Cheese” since they were in Wisconsin, a state known for its cheese. Snow missed a corner attack on Crash, so Hardcore tagged in and Snow accidentally knocked down referee Jimmy Korderas with a clothesline after Hardcore pulled the ref in front of him. Crash tagged in and Hardcore decked him with a kick. Another ref counted Hardcore trying to pin Crash, which got a two count. Hardcore chased Crash into the crowd. The bell rang for the countout win for Snow and Blackman at 2:20.

Winners by countout: Al Snow and Steve Blackman

Analysis: 1/2* Nothing match that was all about Hardcore going after Crash for the Hardcore Title. Some of the finishes in this first hour of the show have been bad.

Post match, Test and Albert attacked Snow and Blackman. Test decked Blackman with a boot to the face followed by an elbow drop to the chest of Blackman. Albert picked up Snow and hit a sitout Powerbomb. Trish Stratus showed up on the stage. Trish: “We give you what you want to see…T for Test and A for Albert…T and A.” They left.

Analysis: The WrestleMania match was Test and Albert vs. Snow and Blackman, so that random attack was done to set that up.

The Mean Street Posse trio were backstage when their buddy Shane McMahon walked up to them. Shane motivated them with a speech telling them they could be like Triple H, Mick Foley and The Rock, so Shane told them to come with him.

The Rock was shown walking backstage because he’s up next.

(Commercial)

The PhoneFree.com moment of the week was when the Dudleys gave The Rock the 3D through a table two weeks ago on Smackdown.

The Rock made his entrance to the Method Man version of his theme song, which was from the new Aggression CD. I don’t think they used this that often. Rock got a massive pop as usual.

The Rock vs. Bubba Ray Dudley (w/D-Von Dudley)

Pre-match notes: The Rock was the top face in the company. Bubba Ray was a heel Tag Team Champion with D-Von, who was at ringside for this match. Look at all those Rock signs.

Rock took control early with a punch and elbow to the face. D-Von got involved by pulling Rock out of the ring, but Rock decked him with a clothesline. Bubba capitalized with a clothesline on Rock on the floor. Bubba put a headset on to mock Rock, but Rock decked him with the ring bell to the head. The ref is either blind or didn’t see it. I don’t know. D-Von got back up, so Rock hit him with the ring bell too! Bubba got back into it by tossing Rock over the barricade to the floor. Rock hit a clothesline as he took control again. Rock sent Bubba face first into the announce table. If ref Earl Hebner was counting them out of the ring then it would have ended earlier, but Hebner was out of the ring with them. Rock tossed Bubba back into the ring with Bubba coming back with a sidewalk slam. Rock with punches followed by a clothesline. Bubba hit a suplex. Rock came back with a Samoan Drop for a two count. Rock with a DDT, D-Von on the apron to distract the ref and that prevented a count. Rock punched D-Von off the apron, so Bubba hit Rock with a belly to back suplex. D-Von set up a table on the floor. Rock hit Bubba with a low blow punch (with the ref right there) and Rock whipped Bubba into D-Von on the apron with D-Von bumping through the table. Rock hit a spinebuster on Bubba. Rock hit the People’s Elbow and covered for the pinfall win at 5:33.

Winner by pinfall: The Rock

Analysis: **3/4 Good match with Rock getting the obvious win because it would have been foolish to have him lose this match. They ignored the countout rules as I mentioned earlier plus the ref Earl Hebner didn’t care about a low blow either, but it’s not like it hurt the match. The pacing of the match was great.

The Rock celebrated the win by walking up the ramp looking proud of his work. Bubba had a bloody mouth.

(Commercial)

The Western Union Fastest Slam of the Week was Linda McMahon announcing Mick Foley as part of the WrestleMania main event.

Mick Foley Interview Conducted by Jim Ross

(Yes, that sign says “Slut” in the background. The Attitude Era was a wild time, my friends.)

Jim Ross was in the ring and he introduced Mick Foley, who walked out with a WWF Attitude shirt plus the usual flannel shirt. Foley got a nice ovation. Ross said it will be great to see Foley in the main event of WrestleMania for one match only.

Foley said that a few weeks ago, he said he would not be like those other people that say they’ll retire and then come back six weeks because he came back in four weeks. That was clever. Foley notes that it is one night only at WrestleMania and then he’ll “never” wrestle again. Oops.

Foley said that he got his first real haircut in 16 years and said that he did relatively little until Linda McMahon called him. He said that he was looking forward to seeing the fans at Axxess and signing his name at the Chef Boyardee booth, but then Linda said that she wanted him to be a part of the main event of WrestleMania. He said that as wrestlers, you don’t just walk out on WrestleMania. Foley said that he didn’t know how the fans would react to him in Chicago and the reaction literally blew him away. Foley said that he intends to make the most of the opportunity at WrestleMania.

Foley talked about how at WrestleMania you’ve got Big Show saying that he’s the strongest man this business has ever seen. Foley said it is not his night. Speaking of Big Show…

Cactus Cack? Sign fail. At least the other fan knows breaks are important.

Foley called The Rock the most electrifying man in sports entertainment and the best damn tag team partner he’s ever had. Foley said he’s got Mr. Rocko at home and he said he likes Rock, but it won’t be his night because destiny is smiling on Foley.

Foley told Triple H that it’s going to come down to the two of them. Foley was mad about Triple H verbally attacking Linda McMahon by calling her a “bitch” earlier in the night. Foley said he fully understands how to truly hurt Hunter and that is by taking “your belt” and the next morning when Triple H wakes up there will not be a damn thing you can do about it because Foley will be retired while Hunter will be a former WWF Champion. Foley said that Hunter is going to know that his last act as an active wrestler was kicking Hunter’s ass. Foley talked about how as great a match as No Way Out was, it will not end the same way with a sad smile on his face. He said WrestleMania will end with blood on his face, a tear in his eye and Hunter’s WWF Championship in his hands. Foley posed for the crowd to end the interview.

Analysis: Good promo by Foley as usual. I think with the Linda promo and this Foley promo, the WWF did well in terms of pushing the idea that Foley would retire if he won the WWF Title. That made it possible that he might win the title. Did I think he would win the title? Absolutely not, but I’m sure some fans did. I thought The Rock would win at WrestleMania. Oops.

There was a GTV segment with Terri and The Kat in the locker room where Kat thanked Terri for letting her borrow a shirt. When Terri opened the skirt, it had stains on it.

Analysis: This was the storyline for the only singles match at WrestleMania. Riveting television, huh? Not exactly.

(Commercial)

Women’s Championship: Jacqueline vs. Lita

Pre-match notes: They were both faces although Lita could have been a heel since her character was not established. This was Lita’s first match on Raw or Smackdown since she debuted with Essa Rios.

Lita with a suplex followed by a monkey flip to send Jackie across the ring. Jackie with a hip toss and a hair toss. Jackie with two arm drags leading to Lita bailing to the floor. They did a roll around spot in the ring along with referee Chad Patton, which was done for laughs. Lita hit a headscissors followed by a dropkick. Jackie went for a sunset flip, Lita was on top briefly, Jackie flipped her over and got the pinfall win at 2:18.

Winner by pinfall: Jacqueline

Analysis: * That was bad and sloppy at times, but at least it was a clean finish. They really didn’t know during some of the match where it seemed like Lita was lost.

Post match, Lita hit Jackie with a weak kick to the ribs and a suplex. Lita went up top for a moonsault and she connected with it onto the legs of Jackie. Lita left standing tall.

Analysis: Cheap attack by Lita after the match, so I guess she was still a heel even though she was cheered for doing the moonsault.

The Run DMC Degeneration X “The Kings” music video aired just like it was shown on Raw.

Here is Joey Abs as Mick Foley…with cushion on his ass to promote the big ass.

Ronda was up last as The Rock complete with a painted on eyebrow.

Shane also introduced us to the future WWF Champion…according to him…it’s the Big Show. No parody of him because it’s actually Big Show.

Shane told Show to preview that match, so Show tossed Gas out of the ring.

Big Show vs. Rodney, Pete Gas and Joey Abs

Show hit Rodney and Abs with clotheslines. Show with a forearm smash on Abs and a powerslam on Rodney. Shane went on commentary with Cole reminding him that these are his best friends that he grew up with. Show hit a sidewalk slam on Gas. Show picked up Abs and gave him a press slam. Show told Rodney Rock to give him the People’s Elbow, but when Rodney ran the ropes, Show got up and dropped him with a Chokeslam at the same time as he gave a Chokeslam to Abs. Gas got back up, so Show gave him a Chokeslam too. Show pinned all three guys at the same time. It went 2:14.

Winner by pinfall: Big Show

Analysis: 1/2* It was an angle more than a match. It was an ass kicking to give some momentum going into WrestleMania.

There was a shot of Rikishi’s ass because he’s in tag team action next.

Pre-match notes: Rikishi and Too Cool were the faces. The Radicals were heels and this was Eddie Guerrero’s return to action after the left elbow injury.

Sexay hit a powerslam on Malenko followed by a clothesline. Scotty tagged in with a double team elbow drop on Malenko and a suplex. Saturn decked Scotty with a clothesline and entered the match even without a tag. Saturn slammed Scotty stomach first against the turnbuckle. Saturn hit a superplex from the middle rope. Guerrero tagged in with a running kick. Scotty hit a stun gun that sent Guerrero into the top rope. Rikishi got the hot tag, I think Saturn tagged in and Rikishi beat up all three Radicals including a double clothesline on Eddie and Malenko. Scotty and Sexay hit splashes on Guerrero against the corner with Rikishi hitting the Stinkface, which was not called that yet. Scotty hit the WORM chop on Eddie. Saturn back in with a punch to Eddie’s back. Rikishi grabbed Saturn and hit a Rikishi Driver for the pinfall win at 3:54.

Analysis: ** Easy win for the faces after Rikishi got the hot tag. The match felt rushed a bit with the heels not being booked strong enough where it looked like they might get the win. It seemed like this was all about getting Rikishi over even though he already is over.

Post match, Rikishi and friends did their dancing routine much to the delight of the crowd.

As the dancing was going on, Road Dogg and X-Pac showed up to attack Rikishi. Kane made the save for his WrestleMania partner Rikishi. Kane beat up the Radicals guys with Chokeslams. Dogg clipped the knee of Kane and X-Pac decked Kane with a chair. Dogg hit Rikishi with a chair too.

Analysis: Solid post match angle to get heel on the heels since it’s X-Pac and Road Dogg vs. Kane and Rikishi at WrestleMania. X-Pac wearing Tommy Hilfiger overalls looking like a Godwinn brother did not look intimidating.

Stephanie McMahon was shown walking down a hallway alone for some big announcement.

(Commercial)

Stephanie McMahon Announcement

Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley walked out to the ring alone. There are about seven minutes left in this show for this main event segment. Stephanie said that she had an announcement to make, so she invited her mother Linda McMahon to feel the impact of what Stephanie has to say first hand.

Linda entered to the “whoa whoa WrestleMania” theme song. It sounded like fake crowd noise for her too. Stephanie had a sly grin on her face as her mother walked down to the ring. Linda asked Stephanie what she wanted to say to her.

Stephanie said that she wishes she could say she was surprised to see her, but she knew that it was a matter of time before Linda mettled in her business. Stephanie claimed that Linda was jealous and threatened by her daughter. Stephanie said that after she was born, she took away the affection that daddy showed Linda. As a result, instead of showing Stephanie love and affection, Stephanie claimed that Linda tried to control her. Stephanie complained about Linda making her own bed instead of having the maid do it. Stephanie complained about Linda only letting her get $100 allowance per week and Stephanie had to drive a regular car instead of a turbo. Stephanie said that when she went to college, Linda only gave her money for one bedroom apartment, so she had to convince the CFO to give her a little extra. Stephanie said even at 19, she knew how to user he assets. Here’s the screencap of the Stephanie “assets” shot.

Stephanie claimed that was a trick that Linda taught her – the power of persuasion especially as it pertains to the opposite sex. Stephanie said that control equals power and she told that the one dominant female in the McMahon family is her (Stephanie). Stephanie recapped what Linda did to change the WrestleMania main event and Linda said it was the right thing to do. Stephanie said Triple H is right: “You’re simply a conniving bitch!” The “bitch” got bleeped when she said it. Stephanie slapped Linda in the face and Lind went down to the mat! Stephanie left as Linda was down on the mat.

A replay aired of Stephanie’s harsh words and the stiff slap to the face. Stephanie left up the ramp. Linda was in tears in the ring over what her daughter did while Triple H congratulated Stephanie for it. That was the end of Smackdown.

Analysis: It was a solid promo from Stephanie, but not great. She got better over the years because there were parts of this where it was just rambling and boring. By the end of it, with the “bitch” line followed by the slap it was pretty intense, so I’ll give them both credit for that. Linda was a poor actress as we know, but in this era, the company was all about shocking the audience and it doesn’t get much more shocking than a daughter slapping a mother like that.

This episode had a run time of 1:33:23 on WWE Network.

Three Stars of the Show

The Rock

Mick Foley

Stephanie McMahon

The Scoreboard

This episode gets a 4.5 out of 10.

It was a below average show. Some of the finishes were awful, but I did like some of the storyline progression. I just think it was lacking in the ring and if you attended this one live, I doubt you had that much fun. Some of the comedy was bad too, especially the Snow/Blackman bit. Teasing cow abuse for comedy? Weak effort.

The main event segment did not feel like as big of a segment as the creative team likely felt it was, but that’s Vince wanting to put over his wife and daughter.

Raw was a lot better this week, that’s for sure.

Shoutout to the fan that put “Cactus Cack” on a sign. I hope your spelling improved since then.

—-

Please let me know what you think of these reviews and feel free to offer any suggestions too. Check out our WWF in 2000 archives for my reviews of all the other shows from earlier in the year. Thanks for reading.

]]>Happy Monday, TJRWrestling faithful! Last week John Cena declared for the Royal Rumble, Daniel Bryan threw fast food at people and I wrote about NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool (the subtlest plug). Welcome to the Week In Preview for World Wrestling Entertainment, January 14th 2019.

Raw (FedExForum, Memphis TN)

What to expect: There’s no Brock Lesnar advertised for Raw tonight, while Braun Strowman’s recovery from elbow surgery was still continuing last week, so the Universal Championship program will probably develop little. John Cena is, however, on tonight’s show – although one of the problems with the build towards any Royal Rumble is the need to keep storylines vague, intersecting and populous due to the big 30-man-or-woman battle royal that everyone’s declaring themselves for. Hence Drew McIntyre might try to get in Cena’s grill again, but equally a similar dish to last week’s six-man tag may well be served. See also ‘what’s Finn Balor up to right now’ or ‘will we get Elias vs Baron Corbin again tonight’. The answer is ‘here’s some wrestling and, in two weeks time, it’ll be every man for himself’.

The three-way Intercontinental Championship match is another example of this – Seth Rollins has moved into a pretty distinct feud with Bobby Lashley now, but here they are opposite Dean Ambrose again – but it has the advantage of being a title match with little chance of a cheap finish. It’ll be a sure highlight of tonight’s show. The WWE.com preview of the announced women’s tag match explicitly includes the words “can they coexist” if you were wondering what the angle will be and, as much as I appreciate Alexa Bliss promo segments, getting Ronda Rousey to witness the competitive skills of Sasha Banks is probably a better way to proceed. Finally, The Revival will look for (and probably receive) another opportunity at Bobby Roode and Chad Gable for the tag titles, as the ‘conspiracy’ angle of them losing matches due to bad refereeing calls continues to play out and presumably heads towards a pay-off very soon.

Spotlight: One of the things I’ll be looking out for over these next couple of Monday nights and at the Royal Rumble is how Sasha Banks responds to being installed as Ronda Rousey’s next challenger for the Raw Women’s Championship. It was around and after the time of the Rumble last year that prospects began to look bleaker for three of NXT’s Four Horsewomen; sure, Charlotte Flair was SmackDown Women’s Champion and would ultimately receive the challenge of the Rumble match winner at WrestleMania, but for Banks, Bayley and Becky Lynch months of somewhat stunted development would begin.

For the first half of 2018, being the first and second entrants in the inaugural women’s Royal Rumble match was by a comfortable distance the high point of Banks and Lynch’s on-screen year. For Banks, who the same night saw Ronda Rousey join her on a brand that was already seemingly committed to Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax as fixtures in the title picture, the second half of the year was scarcely different – but for Lynch, as we know, things changed dramatically. Becky Lynch seized an opportunity, explicitly invoking the perceived standing of Charlotte Flair as she climbed up to her apparent level within the company.

Of all the performers in WWE who might learn something from what Lynch did last year, Banks has obvious cause to be a student. Not only has she seen Lynch – the only one of the quartet not to be champion in NXT – become a bigger deal than her or her other former running mates, but Banks too ‘isn’t supposed to succeed’. This title match at the Royal Rumble looks designed to be a marquee win for Rousey against a competitive, credible name before she’s part of more important plans for WrestleMania. As for Banks at WrestleMania? If those tag titles don’t pull through for her and Bayley, it’s the battle royal again.

Spending these next couple of weeks in the Raw Women’s Championship picture is an opportunity for Sasha Banks to convince the audience and the powers-that-be that she should return to being a permanent fixture there. Whether – and how – she raises her game will be interesting. Her biggest in-ring assets have been her dynamism, resilience and (more than anything) swagger; my optimism about the quality of her upcoming match with Rousey knows no bounds, but bringing the full-fat ‘Boss’ attitude from tonight would be a timely reminder of how big a player we know Banks can be.

SmackDown Live (Legacy Arena, Birmingham AL)

What to expect: The issue of the Royal Rumble causing some blurry narrative lines is also in evidence on SmackDown, with a lot of highly-relevant male performers in particular (Joe, Hardy, Orton, Ali, New Day) treading water out of storylines or announced segments. Meanwhile, however, there are few better places to put vegan anti-consumerist Daniel Bryan face-to-face with AJ Styles for the reactions you’re seeking in the build to the Royal Rumble than in Alabama. Bryan has been outstanding in his role, but this is a great place for Styles to face him down on the microphone as a babyface hero. At the top of the women’s division, the build towards Becky Lynch vs Asuka should begin in earnest, while Charlotte Flair is likely to declare for the Royal Rumble match.

In expected ongoing storylines, Rusev vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States Championship looks like it’ll get confirmed for the Royal Rumble soon; it’s possible Rusev may issue a challenge here (and Lana may make a welcome return). The slow build towards Naomi vs Mandy Rose should continue; I’d have an outside bet on Naomi crashing the announced Carmella vs Sonya Deville match (for which Rose will presumably be ringside) to set up – Holla Holla – a tag team contest. The Miz’s birthday celebration for Shane McMahon will be a live showcase of their peculiar, strained relationship, although The Bar disrupting it is possible to get Shane and Miz fully on the same page for their tag titles challenge at the Royal Rumble. Finally, Rey Mysterio vs Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas should be great, period. More on that follows below.

Spotlight: The announcement of this Tuesday’s match between Mysterio and Almas looks to be a reaction to – and cash-in on – the buzz generated by last week’s (apparent placeholder) tag team match and Mysterio hitting Almas with a Canadian Destroyer-like piledriver. And why not? The live crowd last week ate it up and with much current mid-card booking only employed to serve the Royal Rumble match(es), it’s a good time for an exhibition singles match on weekly television. Plus, Almas’ stock has been rising as an in-ring performer on SmackDown and giving younger guys a rub is exactly the kind of thing Mysterio should be doing.

Count me among those also looking forward to it and hoping to see 10-15 minutes. It’ll be a matter of academic curiosity whether they’ll be allowed to bust out the Canadian Destroyer again; ‘tombstone’ variants by select company veterans aside, modern WWE is notoriously wary of piledrivers. On any fan’s list of reasonable frustrations about the company, that’s something which shouldn’t really rank. Such are the skills of both men that they don’t need it anyway and could fill 10-15 minutes with other mind-boggling moves.

Where faith in WWE is more frequently tested is in their perceived willingness to allow exactly that sort of thing – sending two guys out to throw everything they can do into a feature-length match on television, when there’s no storyline to service or future match to hold something back for. This criticism isn’t always fair – look at the 2018 had by Seth Rollins as the Intercontinental Champion accepting open challenges or scores of tag team matches on SmackDown – and in any case there is a train of thought that the blue brand may place a greater premium on such content when it moves to the sports-oriented Fox later this year.

I’m optimistic this week’s match will deliver and both men will have the creative freedom to deliver something fresh, in main roster television terms. The fact that WWE’s main roster caters to a mass market doesn’t require matches to be homogenized, but to cater to a wide variety of tastes. Letting a couple of lucha wizards burn it down, apropos of nothing asides from the fact it’d be cool, is the sort of thing main roster television should have the confidence to indulge in from time to time a little more often. As John noted in our news article on Sunday when the match was announced, these guys have great chemistry and it’s a good call to make the most of it wherever possible.

Also This Week

205 Live returns to Tuesday (and live!) this week on the WWE Network, in its old slot immediately following SmackDown, with Buddy Murphy issuing a non-title open challenge.

NXT (Wednesday) sees Kassius Ohno vs Keith Lee in a progression of the storyline between Ohno and Matt Riddle, while The Street Profits will also be in action. At time of writing there’s no new episode of NXT UK currently scheduled for this week; the WWE Network will be scheduling a re-run of TakeOver: Blackpool instead (which is worth catching if you haven’t yet). The brand taped more episodes in Blackpool on Sunday, so expect normal programming to be resumed next week.

Three Burning Questions

Some of this week’s most pressing but least publicized talking points. Throw down your answers in the comments section as usual!

What do you think would be the best way for John Cena to kill time on Raw before the Royal Rumble?

How long do you think this week’s Mysterio vs Almas match will go?

Early predictions on who’s going to win the two Royal Rumble matches?

Until next week, strap in, enjoy the ride and remember to stick with TJRWrestling.net for your show recaps and analysis.

]]>Chris Jericho signing with All Elite Wrestling was huge news this past week because he ‘s a 48-year-old wrestling legend that is still very active in the wrestling business. A lot of fans are likely shocked that he signed with an American wrestling company that isn’t World Wrestling Entertainment, but that’s exactly what happened.

Jericho sat down with Chris Van Vliet for an interview on Saturday and they talked for over 20 minutes about his career. This is the second Jericho interview we’ve posted in the last week because he covers some different stuff in this one. It’s a great interview that I recommend you check out at the bottom of this post, but for now, read these excerpts that Chris sent our friends at Rajah.com:

Why he decided to sign with AEW and the length of his contract:
“As the past year progressed, going from New Japan to All In to The Cruise, and kind of seeing how life was on the other side, I realized, like The Young Bucks, like Kenny Omega and these guys, you can make a good living outside the WWE. Then when you have a billionaire getting involved, suddenly you have the biggest offer of my career — by far — I couldn’t say no. For the next three years, it’s AEW. That’s where I’m signed, and that’s the contract that I have.”

Would CM Punk sign with AEW?
“CM Punk’s not so much a free agent as he is a retired wrestler, from what I understand. Of course we’d love to have Punk come in there.”

The possibility of Kenny Omega going to AEW:
“Once I signed, the last remaining huge free agent is Kenny Omega. Jericho and Omega were the two. Where’s he gonna end up? I hope it’s with AEW, I really do. I guess we’ll find out, because his contract ends very quickly.”

Did he ask for Vince’s permission before signing with AEW?
“I spoke to Vince before I signed, and he knew it. The words we exchanged were very amicable, and it wasn’t like it was a surprise. Business is business. Vince McMahon is my friend; I respect him, I love the guy — no ill will whatsoever, just the business road took me this way. I would’ve been crazy not to do it because I might insult somebody. I think the first guy who would agree with that is Vince.”

An update on Roman Reign’s health:
“He’s doing his treatment, and I think things are going really well. I don’t really know much about leukemia. I don’t know what the endgame is as far as when you’re ‘cured’ — when it goes into remission, when you can do physical matches or travel or whatever it is. But we talk to him quite a bit. I’ve got a group text with him in it, and I text him on the side quite a bit. He always seems to be doing pretty well and in good spirits… We love him, and I think it’s just a matter of time before he comes back. But more importantly — that he stays healthy for his family, for sure.”

If you have 20 minutes to spare, I recommend checking out the interview. Van Vliet does a great job as usual.

]]>Welcome to a recap of the new NXT UK brand’s first TakeOver event, which aired live from the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool. This was the venue for the first UK special, which aired on the WWE Network in January 2017 (and in recent years is more commonly known on British television as the Mecca of ballroom dancing on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ – that’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ to our North American cousins).

Though WWE’s UK brand has had further specials and other exposure since, this is their first big card since the launch of the weekly NXT UK programming on the WWE Network, where there are television storylines to be paid off. It promises to be a good show.

NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool

The commentary team of Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness welcomed everyone to the show as the camera panned round the audience in the Empress Ballroom. A guy in the front row was holding a ‘CAREFUL NOW’ sign which, as anyone who knows their regional comedy will confirm, sets an impossibly high bar for the best sign of the night.

The first match was to crown the first NXT UK Tag Team Champions, and Moustache Mountain – wearing gear in tribute to The British Bulldogs – came out first to a big pop. Zack Gibson and James Drake came out second to strong heel heat which, given Gibson’s Liverpool is only an hour’s drive away and Drake is actually from Blackpool, is a sign of how well these guys’ characters have been pitched on the brand so far. The show’s authority figure pairing, Johnny Saint and Sid Scala, were in the ring with the championship belts for the introductions.

Moustache Mountain’s Tyler Bate started the match against Gibson. The crowd were rowdy to start the match with chants and the Gibson-specific removal-of-shoes protest. Bate and Gibson traded holds before Bate showed his strength to power out. Gibson made it to Drake for the tag, but Bate slipped away and tagged in Trent Seven. Seven dominated Drake with chops and double-teamed him with Bate in the corner. Bate evaded Drake and hit a hurricanrana on Gibson before Seven came back in.

Drake and Gibson exchanged tags, but Seven fought them off. Seven with a suicide dive to Drake, but Gibson caught Seven with a throat chop outside the ring. Gibson and Drake worked over and wore down Seven, with Drake busting Seven open with a stiff forearm to the back of the head. Seven was making innovative escape attempts to no avail, but finally reached over Gibson to make the hot tag to Bate.

Bate hit strikes on both men and set Drake up for an airplane spin. When Gibson interrupted, Bate stacked Drake on top of him and spun both men together. Bate is freakishly strong. From the apron, Bate hit an exploder suplex on Drake that sent him into Gibson, then a running shooting star press onto both men. Bate and Seven hit The British Bulldogs’ powerslam/diving headbutt combination on Gibson for a two count. Seven then hit Gibson with a burning hammer, but Drake broke up the pin. First ‘this is awesome’ chant of the night from the crowd.

Bate and Drake tagged back in and exchanged pinfall attempts and strikes. Moustache Mountain went for their rebound clothesline/full nelson suplex double-team, but Gibson interrupted Bate with the Ticket to Ride lungblower. Gibson then hit Seven with his corkscrew brainbuster and Drake followed with a picture-perfect 450 splash, but Seven kicked out at two. Fantastic nearfall.

Seven tried to fight off both men, but got caught in the Shankly Gates by Gibson. Bate tried to make the save, but Drake cut him off and also applied the Shankly Gates. Bate lifted Drake into a fireman’s carry and used him to break up Gibson’s hold on Seven. Bate took down both men and Moustache Mountain finally hit their rebound clothesline and full nelson suplex, but Drake kicked out. Another great nearfall, which the crowd totally bought as the finish. Bate got pulled off the apron and wiped out by an electric chair/suicide dive combo by the heels. Trent Seven went for a suicide dive of his own but Drake caught him with a dropkick. Back in the ring, Drake and Gibson hit Seven with their Ticket to Mayhem double-team and Drake covered for the win. The crowd hated it.

Winners: James Drake & Zack Gibson

Max’s Take: The match went about 24 minutes. Good news: NXT UK’s tag title matches are clearly based around the same principles as NXT’s tag title matches. This was an outstanding opener and, in anyone’s money, an upset with Drake and Gibson beating the heavy favorites to be crowned the brand’s first-ever tag champions. It instantly legitimizes another team on the brand asides from Moustache Mountain though, which is good.

Before Travis Banks vs Jordan Devlin, an ‘earlier today’ video aired that showed the heel Devlin attacking Banks on his arrival at the venue, injuring his knee. Banks made his entry for the scheduled match. When Devlin came out, Banks hit him with a suicide dive before he’d made it to the ring. Devlin turned the tables and stomped the knee of Banks against the ring steps. Referees came out to break up the brawl. The bell never rang.

Banks was helped out of the arena as it became clear the match wouldn’t take place, while Devlin got on the microphone to milk the moment. Just after he boasted about being “the greatest Irish wrestler alive” – see if you can spot where this one’s going – Johnny Saint and Sid Scala hit the stage to inform him they’d made a backup plan after Devlin’s attack earlier in the day.

The lights went out and Finn Balor’s music hit to an almighty pop; probably one of the loudest you’ll hear in WWE this year (and only slightly kneecapped by Vic Joseph’s lukewarm, off-the-shelf “Balor Club has come to Blackpool” call). A shame for Travis Banks, but that angle will likely continue to play out on weekly programming. Balor originally trained Devlin in their shared hometown – there are some aesthetic similarities between them too – so as far as impromptu matches go, this is far from the worst.

Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin

Devlin slapped Balor in the face. Balor responded with strikes and a slingblade, but Devlin rolled out of the ring as Balor looked for the Coup de Grace. Balor dominated Devlin outside the ring, until Devlin crotched him on the middle rope, then drove him into the barricade and apron to take control.

Devlin hit a double stomp and mocked Balor’s trademark pose. Balor regained control with a basement dropkick and enzuigiri, went for the Coup de Grace again but Devlin dropkicked him to the floor. Balor made it back into the ring at a count of nine. Both men exchanged hard chops around the ring. Devlin with another slap to the face, side slam and standing moonsault for two.

Abdominal stretch by Devlin was escaped by a hiptoss by Balor, who then applied an abdominal stretch himself before an exchange of strikes knocked both men down. Balor rallied and ended up hitting the inverted version of his 1916 (Bloody Sunday) for two. Looking for his big corner dropkick, Balor got caught by a superkick and headbutt by Devlin, who then dragged him by the arm into a nice back suplex for a close two count.

Devlin was trash talking Balor until Balor sent him out of the ring and hit a big kick on the apron. Balor went up for the Coup de Grace again, but Devlin crotched him on the top rope. Devlin rolled up Balor with his feet on the ropes for assistance but Balor kicked out at two. Balor then got his knees up on a pretty Devlin moonsault, then hit the 1916, corner dropkick and – finally – the Coup de Grace for the win.

Winner: Finn Balor

Max’s Take: The match went about 12 minutes, which is probably the absolute maximum an NXT guy with limited on-screen development should be lasting against a main roster guy on Finn Balor’s level. The commentary team did a smart job of noting how Devlin’s knowledge of Balor meant he had the Coup de Grace scouted, therefore keeping him in the contest longer. A solid match, with Balor giving his former student a pretty nice rub.

Luke Menzies, a former Rugby League player in England who’s appeared a couple of times as enhancement talent on main NXT programming, was shown in the crowd. The UK brand looks a good fit for him to progress his WWE career. A video for Eddie Dennis vs ‘Bomber’ Dave Mastiff aired. Both men are bigger guys, with Mastiff the face here and Dennis the heel.

Eddie Dennis vs Dave Mastiff (No Disqualification)

The match started out with both men throwing strikes, before Mastiff hit a crossbody. Mastiff sent Dennis into the ring steps on the outside. Mastiff brought the steps into the ring, but Dennis hit him with a kendo stick (which Vic Joseph was referring to as a Singapore cane). Dennis pulled up the floor covering on the outside to reveal the ballroom floor. Dancing with the Superstars, anyone?

Back in the ring, Dennis dominated with the kendo stick and hit an assisted side Russian legsweep. Mastiff eventually snatched the kendo stick after a big headbutt, then gave Dennis his receipt with the stick. Mastiff hit a powerbomb and looked for something onto the ring steps, but Dennis reversed into a short tilt-a-whirl sideslam that was pretty impressive on the big man Mastiff. Dennis grabbed the timekeeper’s steel chair but Mastiff dodged an attack.

Dennis cut Mastiff off on the top rope and hit a crucifix powerbomb he calls the Severn Bridge. That was a surreal feat of strength. Dennis propped a table up in the corner to the delight of the crowd. They teased Mastiff hitting a German suplex from the apron to the exposed floor. Mastiff hit a couple of sentons to Dennis on the exposed floor instead.

Back in the ring, Mastiff missed with a slingshot moonsault and Dennis hit a lifting inverted DDT for a close two. Impressive from both men. Dennis with a chair shot to Mastiff’s back. He looked for the Severn Bridge through the table, but Mastiff slipped out, hit a nasty high-angle release German suplex and a big cannonball that put Dennis through the table. That was enough for three.

Winner: Dave Mastiff

Max’s Take: The match went a little short of 11 minutes and was good value for it. The stipulation offered the crutch of some weapon spots for these guys to lean on, but in truth they barely needed them as the most memorable spots in the match were the feats of strength by Dennis and the feats of agility by Mastiff. Enjoyable stuff from these guys.

Before the NXT UK Women’s Championship match, Kay Lee Ray and Jazzy Gabert were shown in the crowd. It looks like we can expect both to be added to the division imminently, which is good news as it’s been in need of a little more depth.

The video package aired for Rhea Ripley vs Toni Storm. Both women have very big upsides; Ripley is 22, Storm is 23 and both already look like huge stars when they come through the curtain. Storm is arguably the more complete package right now, but once Ripley – the inaugural champion – fully finds her promo voice she’ll be a formidable heel. The main roster should be in both women’s futures.

NXT UK Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs Toni Storm

Storm eventually got the better of a strike exchange before Ripley bailed to the outside. After a chase around and through the ring, Storm connected with a suicide dive. From back on the apron, Ripley sent storm back-first into the barricade to take control. The announce team were putting over the back injury Storm suffered previously. Ripley applied a bodyscissors in the middle of the ring.

Storm attempted to fight out but Ripley snared her into a delayed vertical suplex, two bodyslams, a dropkick and two legdrops. Storm was kicking out of pinfall attempts at every turn and Ripley was getting frustrated. Storm finally halted Ripley with a big headbutt that floored both women.

After a long striking exchange, Storm hit two German suplexes. Both women looked for their finishers, before Ripley locked in an inverted Texas Cloverleaf. Storm reversed into an ankle lock. Ripley made it to the corner, but Storm hit a hip attack and another German suplex for a two count. Ripley finally managed to hit Riptide but Storm kicked out.

Ripley hit two short-arm clotheslines, but Storm countered the third with a headbutt before hitting her Storm Zero powerbomb for a near fall the crowd totally bought. Ripley went for Riptide again but Storm slipped out and hit Storm Zero again for the pinfall victory.

Winner: Toni Storm

Max’s Take: The match went 15 minutes. A big reaction from the crowd for the title change and a great moment for Toni Storm, who celebrated her win on the barricade with the fans. A good title match that went down well with the live audience.

There was a shot of Charlotte Flair in the crowd before we headed into the main event. Pete Dunne has held the United Kingdom Championship for 601 days – put over in the video package here (and by the announce team subsequently) – and the question of who he eventually drops the title to is an interesting one. Joe Coffey has the backing of his brother Mark and Wolfgang (a heel faction named ‘Gallus’, for those who haven’t been watching), which makes him a different kind of challenger from Dunne’s previous defenses.

Joe Coffey was out first with his Gallus associates, though Mark and Wolfgang returned to the back and didn’t accompany him to the ring. Dunne came out to a hero’s welcome and ‘Bruiserweight’ chants before the in-ring introductions.

WWE United Kingdom Championship: Pete Dunne (c) vs Joe Coffey

This started just shy of two hours into the show, so it was clear this would go a decent length. I’ll summarize a bit. Dunne got the better of the opening exchanges, looking to manipulate the limbs, before locking Coffey into a Regal Stretch variant and double wristlock. Coffey escaped with a butterfly suplex. Dunne spilled to the outside, but when Coffey went out after him Dunne caught him with an enzuigiri off the steps. Coffey then hit a powerslam on the entrance ramp.

When Dunne rolled back into the ring, Coffey worked over his back with whips into the turnbuckles, a backbreaker and sidewalk slam. Coffey applied a bearhug, then hit a belly-to-belly suplex. Dunne got back on terms with strikes and an enzuigiri in the corner, then hit a big moonsault to Coffey on the floor.

Dunne hit an X-Plex back in the ring for two. After another exchange, Coffey hit a springboard crossbody and a powerbomb for a close two count. Coffey locked in a Boston crab. Dunne looked like he might pass out but reached the bottom rope. Both men made it to their feet and traded big headbutts in the middle of the ring. Dunne hit a snap German suplex and applied a Koji Clutch followed by an ankle lock. Coffey eventually escaped but Dunne caught him with a knee to the face and a forearm as Coffey came off the turnbuckles. Dunne hit the Bitter End but Coffey kicked out at two. That’s rare.

Out to the apron, Coffey pushed Dunne into the ringpost and hit a big powerbomb on the apron. Both men rolled back in to beat the referee’s count at nine. Coffey and Dunne traded stomps and strikes, before Coffey finally hit his big clothesline for two. The Empress Ballroom crowd were on their feet, then shushed themselves as Dunne looked to snap Coffey’s fingers. Coffey lifted Dunne to the turnbuckle, then turned to drop him into the ring with a powerbomb.

Both men got to their feet in opposite corners to thunderous applause. A striking exchange led to Dunne landing some big punches. Coffey recovered and hit an electric chair into a German suplex. The crowd started a very loud ‘are you watching, Vince McMahon’ chant. Coffey looked for Dunne’s Bitter End, but Dunne countered into a DDT. Dunne managed to hit the Bitter End again but was slow to cover, so Coffey was able to roll to the apron. Coffey hit his discus clothesline but also couldn’t cover.

Both men went up the top turnbuckle. It looked like Coffey was setting up for something big into the ring but he took a tumble out to the floor which definitely looked unplanned. Coffey recovered to hit the discus clothesline on the floor and a slam for two back in the ring. Both men went up to the top rope again, seemingly looking for the same move, and this time both took a spill outside with Dunne going into the barricade. Both rolled back into the ring, Dunne hit a discus clothesline of his own and a third Bitter End. Coffey kicked out. Dunne rolled over into a triangle hold, then snapped and twisted Coffey’s fingers. Coffey tapped out.

Winner: Pete Dunne

Max’s Take: The match went 34 minutes, which roughly breaks down into a textbook-quality first 30 minutes and a very strange last four. Taking what appeared to be two unplanned spills from the top rope, just as the match was building to a climax, was pretty terrible luck. The two men covered for it as well as they could, before Coffey then kicked out of Dunne’s third Bitter End – which felt like it might’ve been enough – only to tap out to joint manipulation almost instantly. I dunno, maybe it’s just me who found the finish a bit flat; let me know in the comments. Otherwise it was a very good main event and another fine addition to Pete Dunne’s scrapbook of title defenses.

Dunne soaked up the applause of the crowd, before the 4th movement of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 started up – because it’s much easier to keep your indie entrance music if it’s out of copyright – and recent WWE signee WALTER walked out to a big crowd reaction. WALTER entered the ring, hit Coffey with a big boot and had a staredown with Dunne. WALTER eventually left the ring and walked up the ramp, and the show went off the air after 2 hours and 39 minutes.

It was a good show; a very good show. Perhaps it didn’t quite reach the heights of some TakeOvers on the main NXT brand, but it certainly matched the quality of where those shows were when that brand was starting out. The opening and closing matches (save for an odd last few minutes) were both excellent, while the three shorter matches in between all delivered. It’s hard to point to anything in particular that could’ve been done better. The Blackpool crowd was hot pretty much the whole night; there’s an anarchic humor to the UK audience, probably still closer to Full Sail than the likes of ECW, but it gives the brand a fresh identity from other WWE shows and adds to the product.

The NXT TakeOver template of five matches, all with time and playing to the performers’ strengths, works so well. It looks like these NXT UK shows will probably become essential viewing in the future too, especially with the new talent that we saw being added to the roster here. I’m interested to see where the weekly shows go next.

I’ll be back on Monday with the Week In Preview. Until then, drop down into the comments below and let us know what you thought of the show.

(Note from John Canton: I do not plan to write a review of this show. I asked Max to do it and he did a great job wit hit. Thank you Max!)